When You See a Black Cat
by SK Dark Dragon
Summary: A mysterious black cat appears in Domino city, with a warning for Yugi and the others. Can the gang heed this warning before it is too late? And what sorts of powers does this cat possess? *COMPLETED* R+R*
1. Chapter 1: The Black Cat

When You See a Black Cat...  
  
Notes: First of all, this story is set directly AFTER "The Darker Power" (Although the Darker Power isn't even finished yet, ^_^; I just got inspiration for this mini-story. It won't give anything away for the ending of the Darker Power, though if anyone was interested, and...  
  
"...it's not necessary to read The Darker Power first, although it may help understand the characters and their current statuses."  
  
Right, well put, Red. This story probably won't be as long as most of my other series stories, but it'll be long enough so that it will take a few, at the least, chapters.  
  
"Enjoy, and leave a review at the end!"  
  
*****  
  
Chapter One: Black Cat  
  
It was late evening in the city of Domino, Japan, and the street lights had already been turned on, partially illuminating the darkening streets. Unseen by most, a pair of yellow eyes opened in a dark alley, and a black-coated creature walked out onto the sidewalks.  
  
Its smooth black coat covered its slender body, and sharp silver teeth glinted in the lights as it opened its mouth in a yawn. Its paws were smooth, but on the end were sharp, silver claws, that looked as if they could cut steel.  
  
The most distinguishing characteristic, however, was a silver band with a blue gem in the center that was fastened around the creature's neck, like a collar.  
  
The cat sauntered out onto the main sidewalk, walking swiftly past passerby on the street, as if it knew exactly where it was heading.  
  
"Beware..." Came a misty voice, and eerie voice, from the cat, although it wasn't opening it's mouth. "Beware..."  
  
****** **  
  
The next morning, Yugi and his friends, Joey, Amber, Duke, Tristan, Serenity, Tea, Taerro, and Bakura were walking through the park together.  
  
"It's been a pretty exciting summer so far, right guys?" Yugi said casually, thinking of all the adventures he and his friends had been through.  
  
Amber nodded.  
  
"I'll say!" she exclaimed, putting her hands behind her head. "The minute I got here you guys were already involved with some sort of mystery."  
  
Duke nodded.  
  
Amber was his friend from America who was visiting him and the others over the summer. She brushed her brown hair out of her face as she looked around.  
  
"So...who's up for doing something fun today?" she asked, looking around eagerly at everyone.  
  
Yugi raised his hand.  
  
"I sure am!" he declared, smiling.  
  
"How about we go play games at my place?" Taerro suggested, looking over at the others. "I've got a nice play room, and it's perfect for playing duel monsters or other board games."  
  
Joey punched his fist in the air.  
  
"Then it's off to Taerro's we go!" he shouted, and the gang set off down the streets, following Taerro to his house.  
  
*******  
  
Seto Kaiba was also walking down the same streets, thinking to himself. He was on his way to the computer supplies shop, and decided to walk to get some time to himself.  
  
"So what game do you want to play first?" He heard as he walked, and looked up to see Yugi and his friends walking toward him.  
  
"Hey Kaiba!" Yugi called, waving. "What brings you out here today?"  
  
"Yeah, don't you have to be working, or watching Mokuba, or doing something?" Joey asked, crossing his arms.  
  
Seto sighed.  
  
"I AM working, I'm just on my way to pick up computer supplies," he informed the others, tapping his foot impatiently.  
  
"Oh," Yugi replied with a shrug. "Ok. Well, we were just on our way to play games at Taerro's. Would you or Mokuba by any chance want to come along later on and play?"  
  
Seto shrugged.  
  
"I don't know if I'll even have time to," he replied with a sigh. "There's a new game that I'm working on that needs to be finished by tomorrow..."  
  
Yugi waved his hands around in front of him.  
  
"Oh, that's ok. We understand," Yugi replied quickly. "Maybe some other time."  
  
"Maybe," Seto replied, walking past Yugi and his friends. "Good bye."  
  
"See you later!" Yugi called, waving.  
  
"Bye," Tea and Amber chorused.  
  
Tristan whistled as they started forward again.  
  
"Man, I'd hate to have to do stuff like that all summer, and then go back to school in the fall," he commented, scratching his head.  
  
"Really? I think school is fun." Taerro said, pushing back his gold rimmed glasses. "In fact, I've enrolled in a few online courses over the summer in some basic subjects just to keep me occupied this summer."  
  
Joey gaped at him, mouth open wordlessly, eyes wide, as they walked.  
  
"You LIKE school?!" Joey cried finally, blinking hard.  
  
"Why yes, doesn't everyone?" Taerro replied smartly, his eyes shut partway as they walked along.  
  
Serenity shook her head to herself.  
  
*******  
  
Twenty minutes later, Seto walked of the appliance shop, his new computer disc in a plastic bag which he was carrying. He walked back down the same sidewalk he had came from, only this time, Yugi and his friends were nowhere in sight.  
  
"There's so much to do," Seto thought, irritated, as he walked. "And I haven't even had time to duel these past few days."  
  
Seto was nearly at the park when suddenly, a silky black cat darted out from behind a bush and scurried in front of him, causing him to lose his balance and trip over it.  
  
He fell over and landed on the hard cement, squishing the cat's tail. The cat turned and hissed, and sunk her sharp, silver teeth into Seto's arm.  
  
"Ow!" he cried, pulled himself up and away from the creature, who after being freed, promptly turned and fled down the sidewalks.  
  
"Stupid cats," he mumbled.  
  
Seto got to his feet, pulling the sleeve of his shirt back to see the damage. Luckily, the bite didn't look too deep.  
  
"Since it had a collar, I doubt it could be carrying rabies or any disease like that," he thought to himself as he rolled his sleeve back down and picked up his bag that he had dropped during the fall.  
  
He started off back on his way with a sigh.  
  
"Things aren't going well today..." he thought with sad smile.  
  
********  
  
Meanwhile, Yugi and his friends were playing games over at Taerro's. Duke rolled the dice across the Dungeon Dice monster field he had brought along with him as he played against Joey.  
  
"Would you look at that? A level 4 summoning!" he exclaimed, picking up an Orgoth the Relentless piece and putting it on the board. "And now I'll use the warp hole, along with three movement crests, to get over to your heart points, and wiping out one of them with an attack crest."  
  
Joey's jaw dropped.  
  
"That had to be the most rigged play I've ever seen!" he shouted, pointing an accusing finger at Duke and waving his arm wildly.  
  
"How can you rig dice, Joey?" Tea asked from where she was sitting on the edge of Taerro's sofa.  
  
"There's a way!" Joey cried, leaping to his feet. "Haven't you ever watched those shows where they put magnates on the dice and have a big magnate hidden away in a wheelchair someone sitting around them is in?"  
  
Tea rolled her eyes.  
  
"There's no magnates Joey," Duke replied smoothly, closing his eyes happily. "Just pure good fortune and good dice rolling."  
  
Joey huffed, and Tea giggled.  
  
Across the room, Yugi and Taerro were dueling, and Bakura and Amber were playing Ping-Pong on a long, green, ping-pong table. Tristan and Serenity were sitting on the sofa, talking. (Luckily, Joey had not taken notice)  
  
As Amber prepared to wack the ping-pong-ball across the table back at Bakura, something in the window caught her eye. It was something black and smooth, its yellow eyes fixed on Yugi or Taerro, and it had a silver collar around its neck. It opened its mouth and she caught sight of its silver teeth...  
  
Amber dropped her paddle and gasped. The ball Bakura had hit flew over and hit her forehead.  
  
"Sorry about that!" Bakura cried, looking concerned at Amber. "Are you all right?" he asked, walking over to her.  
  
Yugi and Taerro looked up from their game.  
  
"Is something wrong, Amber?" Duke asked, standing up and brushing crumbs off of his pants. (Crumbs tend to stand out more on black then any other color)  
  
Amber shook her head, turning around.  
  
"Not really, I just saw this black cat in the window, and..." she began, but Joey cut her off.  
  
  
  
"...you thought you were going to have bad luck," he filled in for her, walking forward.  
  
Amber frowned, irritated.  
  
"No! That was not it!" she protested. "It was wearing a silver band around its neck and had silver teeth!"  
  
Yugi cocked his head.  
  
"Silver teeth?" he asked, standing up as well, and looking out the window. "That is strange for a cat."  
  
He scanned the window.  
  
"It's gone now," he informed the others, as Tristan craned his neck to see out the window.  
  
"Darn," Duke said, snapping his fingers.  
  
  
  
Amber brushed her hair back casually, blushing with embarrassment at having started this whole thing.  
  
"It's no big deal, guys," she told them, smiling. "I overreacted! It just kinda caught me off-guard that's all!"  
  
Duke patted her shoulder.  
  
"It's ok, Amber," he said, smiling.  
  
Bakura nodded.  
  
"Want to start a new game? You pretty much won that last one, even with the mess up at the end," he said merrily.  
  
Amber nodded, grinning.  
  
"You bet!"  
  
Within minutes, everyone had settled back into their games once again, (Tea playing against Duke, instead of Joey, who had refused to play Dungeon Dice Monsters with Duke again for the rest of the day) forgetting all about the cat.  
  
But the thought of it still lingered in Yugi's mind.  
  
"Yami?" he asked his spiritual partner.  
  
"Yes, aibou?" he replied, appearing beside Yugi in a spiritual form.  
  
"What did you think of the cat?" he asked. "Could you sense it?"  
  
Yami put his hand to his chin thoughtfylly.  
  
"In a way, yes I could," he said, eyes narrowing. "But it all depends..."  
  
Yugi looked up quizzically.  
  
"I meant, I sensed something ancient from the window a few moments ago, then Amber scared it off with her cry," Yami explained turning to his friend.  
  
Yugi raised his eyebrows.  
  
"So what does it mean?" he asked eagerly. "Is the cat some sort of ancient thing?"  
  
Yami sighed and turned away from Yugi.  
  
"I don't know..." he replied.  
  
******  
  
Meanwhile, down in the labs of Kaibacorp, Seto was typing away on the game he needed to perfect by nightfall. Backspacing a code error, he put his other hand to his head tiredly. There was so much to do with the game before it was perfected...  
  
As he looked back up at the screen, he saw it was swirling slightly.  
  
"What happened now?" he thought angrily, looking down at the keyboard, but gasped.  
  
The keys were swirling as well; it wasn't his computer, it was his own vision!  
  
********  
  
End of Chapter 1  
  
"Please review, and Come back soon for the next chapter!"  
  
Yes! Thanks for reading! 


	2. Chapter 2: Appearances and Disappearance...

Chapter 2: Appearances and Disappearances  
  
NOTES: I forgot to mention in the first chapter, that the cat character, whose name I won't reveal, as it may spoil part of the story, is my friend "Catwings"' creation. (Well, the name isn't, but the personality is, but I've modified it a bit for the story.)  
  
"Just has to put in her disclaimers."  
  
Yes, I do.   
  
Also, in response to Lady of the Thread's review: First of all on my magnet spelling. -_- Oh dear. No, I don't really want Seto in a die. (Of course, like you said, he probably wouldn't fit!!) And although this was a review from another story, the cat statue isn't going to have anything to do with this cat.  
  
"Yeah, that's what she SAYS now. You were the one who gave her the idea to do something with Bakura's chicken statue."  
  
And lastly, hmm...I guess maybe Seto does attract too many health hazards in my stories. It always seems to make the story more interesting though...but maybe I should give him a break. ^_^  
  
"I think he'd like that...you put him through too much!"  
  
**huffs** Well, he won't REALLY get hurt by what the cat did to him.  
  
"*rolls eyes*"  
  
At least I didn't put him in a dice! ^_~  
  
Anyway! On with the chapter! (And thanks for reviewing!)  
  
*****  
  
Chapter Two:  
  
  
  
Seto blinked hard, squeezing his eyes shut tightly, trying to stay calm. He took a deep breath, opened his eyes again, and thankfully, his vision wasn't swirling anymore. He sighed with relief as he leaned against the desk.  
  
"I've just been staring at the screen too long," he thought out loud.  
  
He then turned back toward the keyboard.  
  
"I can't wait until this is over with," he thought, typing in another line of code, sadly looking up at the screen.  
  
*******  
  
That evening, Yugi said goodbye to his friends and turned to head home to the Game Shop for dinner.  
  
"I'll see you all tomorrow!" he called, waving at Taerro and Bakura, both of whom were still in the middle of a fierce game of ping-pong and weren't replying to anyone.  
  
"Bye!" Taerro called three minutes later, not realizing Yugi had already left.  
  
Amber sighed stretching as she stood up from a game of Dungeon Dice Monsters with Joey.  
  
"Looks like I win again Joey," she said proudly, though tiredly, as she stifled a yawn.  
  
Joey's jaw dropped.  
  
"I'm telling you guys! This stuff is messed up so I can't win!" he cried angrily putting his chin in his hands.  
  
Amber rolled her eyes.  
  
"I use whatever side you tell me to each time. There's no way I could have cheated," she said pulling on a stray lock of brown hair.  
  
She and Duke were still playing with Joey, although everyone else other than Bakura had gone home already. Duke laughed at Joey's futile attempts to cover up the fact he was no good at Dungeon Dice Monsters, and looked up at the clock on the wall.  
  
"Wow! It's already 7:24!" he cried, standing up. "We should be leaving," he told Taerro, who leaned over the table to save the ball. (He succeeded, I might add)  
  
"Fine," Taerro said, eyes still fixed on the ball. "Bye now."  
  
"See you round, mates," Bakura said, hitting the ball with force back at Taerro.  
  
Amber shrugged and she and Duke walked out the door again.  
  
******  
  
Yugi was walking down the dark streets toward his house when he spotted something sitting on a mailbox of a house next door to his own. It was an animal of some sort...  
  
"Hmm," he muttered, walking forward to examine it.  
  
As he neared the creature, the Millennium Puzzle suddenly glowed brightly, and the creature leapt forward and over him, a silver collar glinting in the light of the Millennium Puzzle.  
  
"Whoa!" Yugi cried, ducking down as the creature soared over him, and he turned around to see it land on its feet, its silver claws clinking on the cement.  
  
It turned around for a moment, its yellow eyes staring at Yugi, and he recognized it as a cat. And judging by the silver collar, it was probably the cat Amber had seen before in the window while playing ping-pong...  
  
"Who...who are you?" Yugi asked cautiously, though afterward, he felt a bit silly for addressing an animal as if it could understand him.  
  
"Beware..." Came a misty voice, causing Yugi to look up and around, trying to locate the source.  
  
"Who's there!" he yelled, and the voice died away.  
  
Yugi turned his eyes back to the spot where the cat had been, only to see the open street. The cat had disappeared.  
  
"Huh?" he asked, looking around for the cat, but he couldn't see it.  
  
A car zoomed by, blinding him temporarily by the sudden flash of light in his eyes.  
  
Rubbing his eyes, he continued on his way home, thinking hard.  
  
"What's wrong, aibou?" Yami asked, appearing beside his partner spiritually.  
  
Yugi looked up at him.  
  
"I think I just saw that same cat that Amber saw in the window a while ago," Yugi began as he walked up to the doorstep and into the Game Shop. "But it was strange; as soon as I saw it, the puzzle began to glow and I heard this weird voice saying, "beware."  
  
Yami cocked his head and looked around.  
  
"Where is the cat now?" he asked curiously.  
  
Yugi sighed.  
  
"It ran off as soon as I asked it who it was," he admitted, slamming the Game Shop door behind him.  
  
"Good evening, Yugi," Grandpa greeted him from behind the counter, but Yugi just continued walking forward, lost in his own thoughts and in his conversation with Yami.  
  
"Yugi?" Grandpa asked, blinking, but Yugi walked up the stairs and out of sight without a word.  
  
Grandpa blinked.  
  
"Now I wonder what's on his mind..." Grandpa thought, scratching his head curiously.  
  
*******  
  
Mokuba was sitting in his bedroom, bored, stacking dominos up.   
  
"I can't wait until Nii-sama finishes his new game so he won't be so busy all the time," Mokuba thought sadly, as he lay on his stomach, one hand supporting his chin, the other flicking the line of dominos, causing them all to topple over in half a second.  
  
Mokuba sighed, rolling over and looking at the ceiling.  
  
"This is boring," he thought sadly. "I want to do something with nii-sama."  
  
A rattle at the window made him look up startled, but he sighed when he realized it had only been a tree-branch.  
  
"I hope nii-sama gets home soon," he thought to himself.  
  
*******  
  
Meanwhile, Duke and Amber were on their way back to the Black Crown. (The name of Duke's game shop. They erased the name off the shop for some reason in the dub. 0_o)   
  
"It was kind of fun, beating Joey five times in a row back there," Amber said happily, looking over at Duke.  
  
Duke nodded in agreement.  
  
"Yep," he laughed. "Especially when he started yelling about us cheating."  
  
Amber rolled her eyes.  
  
"He's strange sometimes," she commented as they crossed the road at a street light.  
  
Duke shrugged.  
  
"Or just trying to ignore the fact that he's not good at something," he replied.  
  
The two continued down the street and past the dark alley where two yellow eyes opened, and glared at the two for a moment, although neither took notice.  
  
"Let's play duel monsters when we get home!" Duke suggested happily.  
  
Amber nodded.  
  
"Yeah! Race you!" she yelled, and the cat heard footsteps of two people racing across the cement.  
  
"Wait up!" Duke yelled.  
  
The cat's eyes narrowed.  
  
*****  
  
Seto sighed as he walked tiredly in the front door of the Kaiba Mansion, closing the door with a small snap behind him. He placed his silver briefcase beside the staircase and started up the red carpeted stairs.  
  
There was the click of a door being shut upstairs, and then the pounding of footsteps coming toward him as Mokuba bounded down the hallway and down the stairs to greet his brother.  
  
"Hey, nii-sama!" he cried, hugging him around the waist happily. "I'm glad you're home!"  
  
Seto smiled tiredly.  
  
"Yeah, me too," he said as he and Mokuba walked upstairs.  
  
"Did you finish your game?" Mokuba inquired eagerly, sounding wide-awake, unlike his brother.  
  
Seto nodded.  
  
"Yeah," he replied, walking toward his room. "I wish I could've made the animation in the cave a bit more detailed, but there just wasn't time. Plus, I had to go to the store and get a new computer disc in the middle of the day."  
  
"Aw! You ran out?" Mokuba asked.  
  
Seto nodded.  
  
"Yeah..." he thought back to the incident with the cat. "I also tripped over a black cat on the way back."  
  
Mokuba's eyes widened.  
  
"A BLACK cat?" he asked nervously.  
  
Seto laughed.  
  
"I doubt I'll have any bad luck, Mokuba," he chuckled, patting his younger brother's head. "It just nipped me a little to make me get off its tail."  
  
Mokuba giggled.  
  
  
  
"So what did you do today?" Seto asked, as they stopped by the door to his room.  
  
"Nothing," Mokuba complained sadly. "It was really boring."  
  
"Well," Seto said, looking at his watch. "I think it's time for you to go to bed, but tomorrow, I'm taking a day off, and I'll be around all day."  
  
  
  
A smile broke out over Mokuba's face.  
  
"That sounds good!" Mokuba said happily.  
  
*******  
  
Back at the Game Shop, Yugi was sitting on his bed, contemplating with Yami.  
  
"So what do you think of this cat?" Yugi asked Yami, sprawled out on his bed, chin in his hands, staring up at his partner.  
  
Yami shook his head.  
  
"I don't know, except that it has appeared to us twice now," Yami said with a sigh. "And you said it told you to "beware"?"  
  
Yugi nodded.  
  
"At least that's what I thought it said," he replied.  
  
Yami let out a sigh and floated over to the window, where the moonlight was shining into the room.  
  
  
  
"Maybe it was just a coincidence," Yugi suggested, sitting up and letting his legs dangle off the edge of his bed as he looked over at Yami who was still staring out the window.  
  
Yami shook his head.  
  
"Something tells me we haven't seen the last of this creature..." Yami said solemnly, staring out into the night.  
  
Yugi stared sadly over at his friend.  
  
*******  
  
Seto walked into his room minutes later, dressed in his purple pajamas, and more than ready for bed. As he walked over to his bead, his vision started to swirl again, making the room spin.  
  
"No..!" he thought, closing his eyes and putting his hand to his head.  
  
A moment later, he opened them again, and the swirling had stopped just as it had before. He sighed and climbed into bed.  
  
"I just need some rest," he said, turning off his bedside lamp, covering up and closing his eyes, remembering how hectic the past few days had been, preparing his new game for testing.  
  
  
  
Minutes later, he had fallen to sleep.  
  
********  
  
Bakura had finally left Taerro's house, and had gone back to his own home. He walked back to his room, sighing. It had been a long day; but fun, nevertheless.  
  
As he pulled off his coat, he stared, scared almost, down at the Millennium Ring that hung around his neck. The spirit in the ring had not shown himself or possessed Bakura since their adventures on Madam Christina's island, but the thought of him still being there was enough to scare Bakura.  
  
Bakura carefully pulled the ring off his neck and placed it on top of his coat on his desk. Sighing, he turned around to get ready for bed, when he noticed something sitting on his pillow...  
  
Something sleek and black, with a silver collar.  
  
*******  
  
End of Chapter 2  
  
Cliffhanger, yes. You'll see was kitty-kitty is up to tomorrow! ^_~  
  
"And anyone have a guess on her name? It's something ancient and having to do with a cat..."  
  
I wonder if anyone'll guess correctly...anyway, review for now!  
  
  
  
"Thanks for reading!" 


	3. Chapter 3: The Curse Begins

Chapter 3: The Curse  
  
Notes: Ding, Ding, Ding!  
  
"Another correct answer for Silver and Golden!"  
  
And yes, Bastet is a kind goddess, but there's something she's required to do that may make her appear othererwise...  
  
Now I'm the one giving spoilers! Ah, you'll see eventually.  
  
  
  
"  
  
Here's Chapter 3!  
  
*******  
  
Chapter 3: The Curse  
  
Bakura gasped for a moment as the cat blinked its yellow eyes at him.  
  
"Who...why are you in my room?" he stammered, backing away.  
  
"I'm allergic to cats!" he added in his head.  
  
The cat on the bed purred softly and slinked across Bakura's bed and over to the frightened boy. She raised her head up a bit and stopped when she was eye to eye with Bakura.  
  
"Who are you?" Bakura whispered.  
  
"I am Bastet," The cat purred.  
  
Bakura jumped back.  
  
"You...you can speak?!" he cried, shaking.  
  
Bastet's tail flicked.  
  
"Only to those with the ancient magic with them..." Her eyes flickered down to the Millennium Ring on the desk.  
  
Bakura stepped in front of it, not wanting the spirit inside to come out right now and hurt this peculiar animal, although he didn't want the cat to hurt him either. He studied the animal...  
  
"You're the cat Amber saw in the window!" Bakura cried, noticing the silver collar.  
  
"So the girl noticed me after all," Bastet hissed angrily.  
  
Bakura nodded shakily.  
  
"What...what are you here for?" Bakura demanded nervously.  
  
She looked up at him with narrowed eyes.  
  
"I'm here for two reasons," she snapped, pacing his bed. "One, to warn and protect."  
  
"Warn about what?" Bakura asked, but Bastet continued, ignoring him.  
  
"Secondly, to banish evil," she said, and stopped pacing and stared straight at him with eyes so narrow they were tiny yellow slits.  
  
Bakura blinked, then he realized, as he looked over at the Millennium Ring, with dread what she meant.  
  
"Me?" he squeaked, barely above a whisper, pointing at himself.  
  
Bastet nodded.  
  
"You must be destroyed, evil," she hissed, her silver collar beginning to shine...  
  
  
  
********  
  
Seto tossed and turned in his sleep. His dream was strange...quite strange indeed.  
  
He saw a stone temple in the middle of the desert, and statues. Images flashed through his mind of a jackal, a cat, and a yellow orb of some sort. There was a strange round object clenched between the teeth of a black cat that was walking closer to him.  
  
Closer, closer...  
  
That's when Seto noticed its teeth. Its teeth were silver!  
  
Seto's eyes snapped open and he bolted upright in bed, breathing hard. He wiped sweat off of his forehead and glanced over at his bedside clock.  
  
The flashing red numbers read: 11:34. He sighed and fell back onto his pillow.  
  
  
  
"What had that been about?" he wondered out loud, thinking about the dream.   
  
The cat in it had those silver teeth just like the cat that I ran into this afternoon, he thought to himself, then he laughed.   
  
"Of course," he said pulling the covers up over his chin. "Dreams sometimes reflect what has happened to you during your day. That must have been where she came from..."  
  
But how did that explain the jackal? And the temple? A small voice in his head asked him, but Seto blocked it out. He wasn't about to believe in superstitions about black cats bringing bad luck.  
  
Slowly, he drifted off into an uneasy sleep.  
  
*******  
  
Ishizu Ishtar was walking through the Domino Museum, slowly, thinking to herself. It was well past closing hours, but she liked the silence. Malik and Lishito had already gone back to their house, but she'd stayed behind. Despite how much she loved her brothers, she liked to get some time to think to herself.  
  
She looked at the new additions to the Egyptian Wing of the museum. Madam Christina, after going straight, had donated a few pieces of her large collection to the Domino Museum as an apology for all the trouble she'd caused. (And she'd caused quite a bit of it)  
  
Among the pieces was a large Egyptian head, a silver coin with a hieroglyphic symbol on it, and an ancient stone pottery piece that was glazed in gold.  
  
"I sense another presence," she thought to herself. "But this one, unlike the last, doesn't seem to be evil. On the contrary, it seems quite peaceful."  
  
Ishizu smiled. She liked the idea of a more peaceful spirit, but still wondered when they would cross paths with it.  
  
********  
  
"No! I'm not evil!" Bakura cried, backing away from the advancing feline. "You're mistaking me for the evil spirit in my ring!"  
  
Bastet's tail flicked again.  
  
"Oh?" she asked, her collar still glowing. "Well then, I'll destroy him, if such a spirit DOES exist."  
  
The ring began to glow and Bakura's eyes narrowed.  
  
"Oh...no..." he moaned as Yami Bakura took over his body, and glared at the cat.  
  
"I believe I've had enough of you, kitty," he snapped, and the ring let off a blue blast, that hit Bastet's tail as she attempted to flee.  
  
She leapt into the air, and landed on Bakura's arm, scratching it with her claws as she scrambled to get her footing.  
  
"Get...off...me!" Yami Bakura cried, as Bastet's teeth grazed him.  
  
He threw her off, and she fell right out the open window. There was s rustle in the leaves below, but Yami Bakura didn't care.  
  
"Good riddance," he thought, retreating to the ring.  
  
********  
  
Bastet hissed angrily as she shook leaves out of her fur. She trotted away from Bakura's house, angry she could not finish off the evil within.  
  
"Time to take care of mission number two," she thought to herself as she walked away, quickly, toward the center of the city.  
  
*******  
  
Amber and Duke had returned home and were playing Duel Monsters, Joey and Serenity were watching a horror movie, "Ringu," at Joey's house, (Serenity wasn't thrilled about the movie choice, but she enjoyed spending time with her older brother) and Yugi was sleeping at his home.  
  
Yami, however, was still awake, thinking hard about the cat creature.  
  
He sighed and looked over at Yugi, who was sound asleep.  
  
"I don't want any harm to come to Yugi and his friends," he thought to himself. "But with all these strange appearances, I wonder how we can not get involved with the matter?"  
  
*******  
  
Seto was also asleep, though the dreams from before were coming back; clearer and sharper than before. The jackal and now a bird of some sort were fighting...there were several odd beasts wandering around, obviously in conflict.  
  
Something silver came into view, then the black cat pounced on the scene, bearing its sharp, silver teeth...  
  
Seto's eyes opened again and he sighed.  
  
"Another dream..." he thought to himself, recalling it. "But why am I having these dreams?"  
  
He rolled over and puffed up his pillow again.  
  
"I'll never get any sleep if I keep waking up like this..." he muttered, seeing the time, 2:15.  
  
His heavy eyes closed once more, and he drifted back off into the eerie dreams.  
  
*******  
  
The next morning, Seto woke up still feeling tired. He pulled the pillow over his head to block out the noises of people walking around the hallways outside, and the cars out the window.  
  
After several minutes, he forced himself up and looked over at the clock.  
  
"12:34!" he cried, jumping out of bed. "I can't believe I slept so late!"  
  
Hurriedly, he got dressed and rushed out of his room, nearly running into Mokuba, who had been walking by the door at that exact moment.  
  
"Whoa! Nii-sama! You're awake," he said happily.  
  
Seto nodded.  
  
"Yeah," Seto said, rubbing his head. "So, did anyone call while I was asleep?"  
  
Mokuba shook his head.  
  
"Not really," he said, looking down at the floor. "But you're taking today off anyway, right?"  
  
Of course! Seto thought, remembering suddenly.  
  
The strange dreams had made him forget completely.  
  
"That's right, I am," he said as he and Mokuba started walking downstairs. "What did you want to do today?"  
  
Mokuba shrugged.  
  
"How about just walk around until we find something cool to do?" Mokuba asked brightly.  
  
Seto shrugged.  
  
"Sure," he replied with a smile, pushing the dreams out of his mind.  
  
After all, they were only dreams.  
  
********  
  
"Or are they?" ^_~  
  
Anyway, review for now, and next chappie up tomorrow!  
  
"Hopefully..."  
  
^_^ 


	4. Chapter 4: Strange Happenings

Chapter 4: Strange Happenings  
  
Notes: Seto does have strange dreams, and although they are dreams, they may not be ordinary ones. ^_~  
  
"Okay, the ARE NOT ordinary ones."  
  
I suppose you can put it that way. Anyway, here's chapter 4, and thanks to Golden and Silver and Wingweaver Hope for the reviews on the last chapter! Oh, and a LONG chapter alert. ^_~  
  
*******  
  
Chapter 4: Strange Happenings  
  
Bakura was walking down the streets, nervously. He was on his way to Yugi's game shop. Yugi had invited everyone over to decide what to do for the day.  
  
"Last night I barely got any sleep," he moaned to himself, rubbing his eyes wearily. "Those weird dreams about that cat...and worrying about the evil spirit possessing me again..."  
  
He sighed.  
  
*******  
  
"Amber!" Duke called up the stairs of his house as he looked down at his watch. "What are you doing up there? Hurry! I told Yugi we'd be there by 1:00!"  
  
A door opened upstairs.  
  
"Okay!" Amber called, sprinting down the hall, galloping down the stairs, and skipping the last three, landing in front of Duke with clomp on the floor.  
  
Duke blinked for a second, startled by her strange appearance. Then, he nodded.  
  
"Yeah, let's go," he said as they walked over to the front door and outside on to the sidewalk.  
  
As the two walked away, Bastet slinked out from behind a bush, and climbed up the drainpipe that rested along the side of Duke's house. She climbed her way up, digging small holes in the pipe with her silver claws as she made her way to an open window.  
  
******  
  
"What took you so long upstairs?" he asked as they walked along.  
  
She shrugged.  
  
"I couldn't find my tennis shoes," she said hopping on one foot as she tied the lace to one of her shoes.  
  
Duke nodded.  
  
"Oh, yeah," he said with a sigh.  
  
"Why don't you just take the test to get your drivers' license?" she asked, looking over at a teen driving a car nearby. "I'm sure it's not that difficult."  
  
Amber looked over at Duke when he didn't answer and saw he was turning slightly red.  
  
"What's wrong?" she asked playfully, tapping his shoulder.  
  
"The last time I drove, I nearly killed everyone when I swerved off the side of the road to avoid hitting a cat," Duke said rather reluctantly.  
  
Amber burst out laughing, but stopped abruptly when she saw the look on Duke's face.  
  
"Oh...ehe...sorry?" she offered embarrassedly.  
  
Duke crossed his arms.  
  
"It wasn't very funny," he replied softly.  
  
  
  
"Yikes," Amber thought unhappily, wishing she'd never mentioned the drivers' license. "Anyway, speaking of cat, I hope I don't run into that weird one I saw in the window yesterday."  
  
"I'm sure it wasn't THAT creepy looking," Duke giggled.  
  
Amber sighed. At least he wasn't acting sad anymore.  
  
"It was SO creepy," she protested. "It was wearing a jeweled collar and had silver teeth."  
  
Duke shrugged.  
  
"I'll bet it belongs to one of those rich people who give their cats jewels and stuff cause they have so much money," he joked.  
  
Amber decided to play along.  
  
"We ought to ask that Kaiba guy if he has any cats," she said with a laugh.  
  
"Maybe we should..." Duke replied with a smile.  
  
*******  
  
Yugi was sitting in his living room with Tea and Tristan, a duel monster's tournament held in Spain playing on the television in the background.  
  
"These are really good cards, Tea," Yugi said as Tea showed him what she'd gotten in the pack she purchased. "Creature Swap is an ultra rare card, and very powerful."  
  
"Yeah, swap someone a Kuribo and get their Jinzo or something," Tristan commented, admiring the card in the light, the holofoil shining.  
  
"Kuribo is not that horrible!" Yugi protested, slightly hurt.  
  
Tristan waved his hands around defensively.   
  
"Sorry! Sorry! Of course it's not! I meant something more like...a Petite Angel," he finished.  
  
Tea frowned and started to open her mouth to protest, but at that moment, Joey and Serenity walked in the room, sparing Tristan from Tea's reply.  
  
"Hey guys," Joey said cheerfully, waving his hand in hello.  
  
"Hi, Joey, Serenity," Yugi said happily, moving over to give them some room on the couch.  
  
Serenity opened her mouth to speak, but at that moment, the telephone rang. Joey jumped a foot and backed away from it as Yugi walked over to answer.  
  
"What's up with you, Joey?" Tristan asked, raising an eyebrow as Yugi walked out into the other room with the phone to talk.  
  
"N...nothing," Joey said, though his face was still showing signs of fear.  
  
"Sure could have fooled me," Tea replied with a shrug.  
  
Serenity giggled.  
  
  
  
"Oniichan and I watched a scary movie last night, and the people in it always got a telephone call after you watched this weird video, and no one answers on the other line. And then you only have 7 days to live," Serenity said, though she didn't seem frightened.  
  
"Oh Joey!" Tea scolded, shaking a finger at him. "That was JUST a movie."  
  
"I know it was just a movie!" Joey shouted back, his face turning red.  
  
A loud ring sounded through the house and Joey jumped again. Tristan rolled his eyes as he strode out of the room.  
  
"It's only the door-bell, jumpy," he called back to him.  
  
"I knew that!" Joey yelled nervously.  
  
A moment later, Taerro and Bakura walked inside.  
  
"Hey guys!" Taerro called, walking in the room.  
  
  
  
"Hi Taerro!" Joey said loudly, trying to change the topic.  
  
Taerro's eyebrows went up.  
  
"What's up with you, Joey?" he asked.  
  
"Nothing!" Joey replied quickly, and Tristan, Tea, and even Serenity giggled.  
  
Taerro asked what was so funny as Bakura stood there with his hands in his pockets. He wasn't in a very talkative mood right now, with so many things still bothering him.  
  
*******  
  
"Hello?" Yugi asked, as he put the phone up to his ear in the other room.  
  
"Hello, Yugi," Came a calm voice from the other end.  
  
"Ishizu!" Yugi exclaimed, sitting down at the kitchen table and playing with a lose corner of the tablecloth. "What's up?"  
  
There was sigh on the other end.  
  
"Yugi, may I ask for your help on a matter?" she asked slowly.  
  
Yugi's eyes narrowed in confusion.  
  
"Sure," he replied at once. "After all, you and Malik and Lishito helped me out last week with the evil spirits in Bakura's statue. I owe you one."  
  
"Thank you," Ishizu replied gratefully. "I sensed something in Domino yesterday, and I believe it has something to do with Ancient Egypt."  
  
Yugi nodded, taking this information in, when he suddenly remembered the cat.  
  
  
  
"Ishizu," he said quickly, pressing his ear into the phone. "Yesterday, when I was walking home, I saw this strange cat with a silver collar and silver teeth. When it was around, it made my Millennium Puzzle glow. Do you think this has anything to do with this new spirit?"  
  
There was silence on the other end.  
  
"Ishizu?" Yugi asked after a moment.  
  
"Yugi, may I meet you at your house?" she asked abruptly. "I feel we need to discuss this more in person."  
  
"That's fine," Yugi replied. "I've invited everyone else over as well."  
  
"I'll be over in a moment," she said, and there was a click on the other end.  
  
Yugi pressed the off button on his phone and set it down on the table thoughtfully.  
  
"Yami," he said, resting his elbow on the table and supporting his chin with the palm of his hand. "Do you think that cat is what Ishizu was talking about?"  
  
Yami appeared spiritually beside him and appeared to be leaning against the wall, although a spirit doesn't need support. (At least not physical support, that is. ^_~)  
  
"I don't know..." he replied, gazing out the window. "She did seem to want to discuss it further with you. Perhaps it is part of what she was sensing."  
  
Yugi looked up, confused.  
  
"Part of?" he repeated, unsure.  
  
Yami nodded.  
  
"Yes," he replied, folding his arms. "I have spent long hours thinking about this, and I believe there may be more to this than we think."  
  
Yugi nodded slowly.  
  
*********  
  
Amber and Duke walked up to the front door and rang the bell.  
  
"Whoa! What was that?!" Came Joey's frantic voice from in the house.  
  
"THE DOORBELL!" Everyone else chorused as Duke heard someone walking over to the door.  
  
"What's up with Joey?" Duke whispered to Amber.  
  
  
  
She shrugged.  
  
  
  
"Don't know why he'd be scared of the doorbell," She replied.  
  
Yugi opened the door and smiled.  
  
"Hey guys," he said, moving aside so they could come in. "Come on in. Ishizu said she'd be over later to discuss something with me, so we'll just hang out at my place for a while."  
  
Duke shrugged.  
  
"Sounds good to me!" he said as he walked into the main room where the others were chatting.  
  
Amber nodded.  
  
"Sure," she replied as Yugi closed the door. "But what is she coming to discuss?"  
  
Yugi looked at the ground.  
  
"I think she's sensing some new ancient spirit in Domino, and I believe it might be that cat you and I saw yesterday," Yugi said as they walked toward the main room.  
  
Amber stopped in her tracks.  
  
"'We saw'?" she asked tilting her head. "I thought I was the only one who saw it."  
  
Yugi nodded.  
  
"At that time, you were, but I saw it again on my way home," he informed her.  
  
"Oh...weird," she replied as they entered the room.  
  
"Yeah," he replied, walking over to Joey and Tea. "But make yourselves at home for now. We might be here for another half hour."  
  
"Sure!" Taerro replied from where he was typing on Yugi's computer.  
  
*******  
  
Seto and Mokuba walked down the sidewalks of Domino City, side by side.  
  
"So...did you have anything in mind, Seto?" Mokuba asked happily as they turned a corner.  
  
Seto shook his head as he passed the Domino Museum.  
  
"Not really," he replied, stifling a yawn. "We could go to that arcade across town if you want to."  
  
Mokuba nodded eagerly.  
  
  
  
"Sure!" he said, running ahead a little.  
  
Seto smiled and jogged to catch up with his brother.  
  
******  
  
Yugi and Tristan were engaged in a duel when the doorbell rang again. Yugi jumped up, sending Tristan's cards on the field flying as he ran to get the door for, what he hoped to be, Ishizu.  
  
"Watch it, Yugi!" Tristan cried, grabbing his Cyber Commander off the floor and his Robo Lady out from under Bakura shoe before he crushed it.  
  
Yugi sprinted over to the door and twisted it open. Ishizu, Malik, and Lishito, the Ishtars, were standing there on the porch.  
  
"Hey Yugi!" Malik said cheerfully. "How are you doing?"  
  
"Okay I guess," Yugi replied truthfully, looking over at Ishizu.  
  
Unlike Malik, who looked cheerful, she looked worried and distracted.  
  
"Come on in," Yugi invited, stepping aside.  
  
"Thank you," Ishizu replied.  
  
*******  
  
Over at Duke's house, Bastet slinked out of the window, and made her way down the drainpipe again. From inside the house, the sound of something dripping could be heard from outside.  
  
"Not there..." she hissed, bounding down the streets and away from the house.  
  
********  
  
End of Chapter 4  
  
"Wow! That was LONG."  
  
**nods** Yep, but it was good. I hope the readers thought so too! Please leave a review, and let us know what you think. And next chapter up sometime between now and Saturday.  
  
^_^ 


	5. Chapter 5: The Plan

Chapter 5: The Plan  
  
Notes: Thanks for reviewing guys!  
  
"Yeah, thanks!"  
  
And let's see...yes, things ARE getting exciting. This chapter won't be as long as the last, but I'll probably get the next one up today or tomorrow. ^_~  
  
"She's in a "writing mood" as she calls them."  
  
So? That's a good thing. At least, to the readers anyway. K, I guess that's all the notes. On with Chapter 5!  
  
*****  
  
Chapter 5: The Plan  
  
Ishizu, Malik, Lishito, and Yugi walked into the kitchen together, and everyone took a seat.  
  
"So, Ishizu, do you think that cat I saw was linked to this new presence in some way?" Yugi asked.  
  
Ishizu nodded.  
  
"I do. You said it caused your Millennium Puzzle to glow..." she said, staring down at the puzzle that was hanging around Yugi's neck.  
  
Yugi nodded, rubbing the edge of the golden frame with his hand.  
  
"Yeah..." he said, thinking back to some of Yami's conversations. "Yami thinks that there's more to this than just the cat." He added.  
  
Malik looked from Ishizu to Yugi.  
  
"What's going on here?" he asked curiously, looking up at Lishito.  
  
Lishito shrugged slightly.  
  
"I believe there might be more to this than a cat as well," Ishizu said solemnly. "And I also think that this new force might be after one of the items that I have recently acquired in the museum."  
  
Yugi's eyes widened.  
  
"One of the things Madam Christina gave you?" he asked, disbelieving.  
  
Ishizu nodded sadly.  
  
"But, Miss Ishizu, why do you think that this cat is after one of your items?" Lishito asked curiously.  
  
Ishizu sighed.  
  
"Just a feeling, I suppose," she admitted, looking over at Yugi. "Yugi we must track this creature down and find out what it is after."  
  
Yugi nodded.  
  
"I can get all my friends to help out," he said earnestly, standing up. "Together, we'll be able to track it down faster."  
  
Ishizu smiled a small smile.  
  
"Thank you, Yugi," she said as she stood up as well.  
  
Yugi winked as he lead the three back into the back room where everyone else was.  
  
"Hi Ishizu," Tea said happily from where she was watching the TV from the couch. "Malik, Lishito."  
  
"Guys," Yugi said seriously, trying to quiet everyone down. "We've got to track down that cat Amber saw yesterday."  
  
Amber raised an eyebrow.  
  
"How come?" she asked, standing up and brushing bits of debris off of her jeans.  
  
"Because Ishizu thinks that it is somehow linked to this new force that's present in Domino," Yugi informed everyone. "So let's all split up and we'll find it a lot faster."  
  
"Cat?" Bakura suddenly blurted out, startled.  
  
Everyone stared at him.  
  
"What's wrong Bakura?" Taerro asked curiously.  
  
Bakura looked down at the floor.  
  
"Yesterday, when I got home, there was that black cat sitting on my bed," he began.  
  
Everyone's eyes widened.  
  
"And...?" Joey said, signaling for Bakura to continue with his story.  
  
"And it spoke to me," he continued.  
  
"How?" Tea asked, tilting her head to one side.  
  
Bakura took a breath.  
  
"Well, it said it could talk to those with ancient magic or something, and I guess it was referring to my ring," he replied. "But it's name was Bastet, and that it was here for two reasons: One, to protect and...warn..."  
  
"Protect and warn? About what?" Serenity asked nervously.  
  
Bakura shrugged.  
  
"She never said," he replied. "But then she said she was also here to banish evil, and tried to kill the evil spirit of the Millennium Ring, but he shot her out the window."  
  
"Is she still alive?!" Ishizu cried, staring at Bakura nervously.  
  
Bakura nodded.  
  
"I heard her run away," he replied.  
  
Yugi took all this in, thinking to himself.  
  
"Okay," Yugi said. "Ishizu and I can look on the streets..."  
  
"And I'll go with you two," Tea said, walking up to Yugi, who nodded.  
  
"I'll go back home and call the pound and see if they've picked up any stray cats," Joey said with a nod.  
  
"Hey, you finally thought up a good and useful idea, Joey," Tristan joked, poking Joey in the ribs.  
  
"Hey that ain't funny!" Joey protested, shoving Tristan's arm away.  
  
"I'll go with my brother," Serenity added.  
  
"Why don't Bakura, Tristan and I go to Bakura's house to check things out?" Taerro suggested.  
  
"Sure," Bakura replied rather uninterestedly. (He was still lost in his own thoughts)  
  
Tristan shrugged.  
  
"Fine by me," he replied.  
  
"Lishito and I can go back to the museum to make sure nothing happens to the artifacts," Malik offered, and Ishizu looked happy.  
  
"That's good," Amber said, looking at Duke. "And we'll..."  
  
Duke shrugged.  
  
"I kinda have to be back at the shop this afternoon," he admitted to the others.  
  
Yugi patted his shoulder.  
  
"No problem," he said reassuringly. "We can take of the situation by ourselves for now."  
  
"Meet back at the Game Shop at 5:00 this evening, alright?" Yugi asked as everyone walked out the front door, talking and chattering amongst themselves.  
  
"K, Yug!" Joey said, waving, as he and his younger sister walked down the sidewalk toward his house.  
  
"Let's go," Yugi said to Tea and Ishizu, as they walked across the street and toward the center of the city.  
  
*******  
  
Seto and Mokuba walked out of the arcade together, both smiling.  
  
"That was fun!" Mokuba said happily, his face slightly flushed from the excitement. "Ne, niisama?"  
  
Seto nodded as they walked toward Domino Station.  
  
"Yeah..." he said distantly as he noticed a tabby cat slink across the street and into a bush, refreshing his memories of the black cat from the day before, and in his dreams.  
  
Mokuba looked up, his smile fading slightly.  
  
"What's wrong, niisama? You've been kind of strange today," Mokuba asked, concerned.  
  
Seto looked down at his brother.  
  
"Nothing's wrong, Mokuba," he said, patting his shoulder. "I'm fine. I was just thinking."  
  
Mokuba smiled.  
  
"Ok, niisama!"  
  
*******  
  
In the shadows of the bushes, two white eyes glared after Seto and Mokuba, and growled a low and non-human growl.  
  
*******  
  
Duke and Amber walked up to the front door of Duke's house.  
  
"Let's grab some lunch before heading over to the Black Crown," Amber suggested as Duke unlocked the door.  
  
"Sure thing," he said as he walked in the house.  
  
As he walked in, he suddenly stopped.  
  
"What's wrong..." Amber started, but Duke put his hand in front of her to indicate he wanted silence.  
  
A faint dripping noise could be heard in the distance somewhere in the house.  
  
"What's that?" Amber whispered.  
  
"I don't know," Duke replied, walking up the stairs.  
  
Amber looked around for a moment downstairs, and then nearly jumped when she heard Duke scream from upstairs.  
  
"What's wrong?!" she cried, bounding up the stairs, and stopping short at the top.  
  
The carpeting in the hallway was soaked, and there was water flooding out of a doorway of a room in the hall. Duke walked out of the room, the bottom of his pants all wet.  
  
"What...what happened?!" Amber asked in shock.  
  
Duke's face was glum.  
  
"Looks like someone left the water running in the bathroom," he said, sounding upset.  
  
Amber shook her head.  
  
  
  
"Who did that? Maybe one of your employees or..." she began but then saw the look on Duke's face.  
  
He was staring right at her.  
  
"Me?!" Amber cried, pointing at herself. "I did NOT leave the water running, honest I didn't!" she cried.  
  
Duke crossed his arms.  
  
"It's ok, Amber," he said with a sigh. "But you were the last one up here, so you probably just accidentally did it."  
  
Amber looked sadly down at the marshy ground.  
  
"I could have sworn I turned it off," she said softly.  
  
"Hey," Duke said, walking over the squishy carpet to her and putting a hand on her shoulder. "It's ok. It's just the carpet up here."  
  
She smiled a crooked smile at him.  
  
"Should we get some towels, or a fan?" she joked.  
  
Duke laughed.  
  
*******  
  
Yugi, Tea, and Ishizu walked down the street together, keep their eyes opened for any sign of Bastet.  
  
"Bakura said the cat's name was Bastet," Yugi said thoughtfully, looking at the others. "That name sounds familiar."  
  
Ishizu nodded slowly.  
  
  
  
"It was the name of an Egyptian goddess," she informed the other two. "That goddess had the head of a cat."  
  
Tea gasped.  
  
"So could this cat be..." she started, but Ishizu cut her off.  
  
"It may be," she replied.  
  
Yugi bit his lip.  
  
"An Egyptian goddess?" Yami wondered, appearing beside Yugi in a spiritual form.  
  
Yugi nodded.  
  
"That's what it sounds like," he muttered nervously. "But I wonder why she's here..."  
  
As they approached Domino Station, Yugi noticed two familiar people walking in the distance.  
  
"Hey look!" he called, pointing over at Seto and Mokuba, who were walking toward them. "It's Kaiba and his brother."  
  
Tea and Ishizu looked in front of him and noticed the two brothers.  
  
"Yeah!" Tea cried, waving. "Hey!"  
  
Seto and Mokuba looked over at the three.  
  
"Look niisama," Mokuba said, pointing. "It's Yugi and Tea and it looks like Ishizu."  
  
Seto raised an eyebrow.  
  
"Quite an odd group for just walking around town," he said to himself as Mokuba ran over to Yugi. "I wonder what's going on..."  
  
"Hey Yugi!" he said happily, stopping a few feet from him. "How are you guys?"  
  
"We're fine..." Yugi began as Seto walked up to his brother, but at that moment, something black and sleek landed in between the two groups, something silver around its neck gleaming in the sunlight.  
  
*******  
  
End of Chapter  
  
PLEASE review!  
  
"And come back later today or tomorrow for chapter 6!" 


	6. Chapter 6: Bastet's Secret

Chapter 6: Bastet's Secret  
  
Notes: Flooding...is definitely not fun. My house has never flooded, luckily, but out above ground pool always spills over when there's too much rain and we have to go running to pull the ring back up. (It's not nice when you're in the pool and you go out in this tidal wave either. ^_~)  
  
"Whee! You're giving me fanfic ideas!"  
  
Okay, but enough of that now! ^_^;   
  
  
  
Let's get on with the story, shall we? Oh, and new character alert! (Though, think more along the lines of Bastet)  
  
"Yes! Chapter 6!"  
  
  
  
******  
  
Chapter 6: Bastet's Secret  
  
"It's the cat!" Seto cried.  
  
"Bastet!" Yugi and Ishizu chorused.  
  
Bastet looked up at Yugi with yellow slits for eyes.  
  
"How do you know my name?" she demanded.  
  
Seto's eyes grew wide.  
  
"It can...talk?!" he sputtered.  
  
Yugi nodded, then motioned for him to be quiet. He turned back to Bastet, a kind smile on his face.  
  
"Bastet, can you tell us why you're here?" Yugi asked in a nice voice as the five humans and the cat quickly moved behind a tall bush near the entrance to Domino Station, so that no one passing by would hear them and think them to be crazy.  
  
Bastet sniffed.  
  
"Please," Ishizu pleaded.  
  
Bastet sighed.  
  
"I can't hear anything," Mokuba whispered to Tea, who was standing next to him.  
  
Tea looked down at him, relieved she wasn't the only one who couldn't hear the cat.  
  
"Remember, only those who had ancient magic in them could understand the cat," Tea replied. "Yugi has the puzzle, and Ishizu used to have the necklace, before she gave it to Yugi."  
  
Mokuba tilted his head.  
  
"Then why can my brother hear her?" he whispered.  
  
Tea fell silent.  
  
"I'm here to find the ancient coin of the gods," Bastet said simply.  
  
"Coin..." Seto thought, images of the black cat with the silver coin from his dreams came back to him.  
  
"Ancient coin of the gods?" Ishizu repeated.  
  
Bastet nodded.  
  
"It is a silver coin with a symbol of a pyramid on it," Bastet continued. "I must find it before he does."  
  
Yugi looked confused.  
  
"Who's he?" he asked curiously.  
  
Bastet closed her eyes.  
  
"Anubis," she said softly.  
  
"The god of embalming?" Ishizu inquired.  
  
"Yes, that Anubis," she sighed. "This all started years and years ago, back before even the great pyramids had been fully built. We gods and goddesses lived in a place far from the eyes of the humans. We had everything we could ever need and want, and we also each had our own special abilities."  
  
  
  
"Then why does Anubis want that coin?" Yugi broke in.  
  
"Shh," Ishizu whispered, patting Yugi's shoulder slightly.  
  
"Gods and goddesses do not live peacefully with one another," Bastet said seriously. "Hardly any god with abilities would be satisfied by just living out a peaceful life and doing those things required of him. No, they all dreamed of become the owner of Egypt, and that erupted into a deadly game."  
  
"Did the duel?" Yami inquired, taking control of Yugi's body.  
  
Yugi appeared spiritually beside him to continue watching the conversation.  
  
Bastet looked queerly up at Yami, but then continued.  
  
"No, we did not duel as the Egyptian people did with stone and monsters, the other gods concocted a game involving the silver coin."  
  
"The jackal...and the bird..." Seto thought, remembering them as well. "And the cat..."  
  
"The game was that one god who would not be competing would hide two silver coins anywhere at all, and then the first god to find both of the coins would become the supreme ruler of Egypt."  
  
"Oh my," Yami whispered.  
  
"But Osiris didn't like this plan at all, as several of the other gods were not as peaceful as we, and we would dread them receiving powers to rule Egypt," Bastet continued. "So I hid the coins away myself, the night before the competition was to be held, in such hidden locations no one would be able to find them for years."  
  
"And then Osiris suppressed the memories of where I hid the coins, so that no one could attempt to probe my memory for the information," Bastet concluded. "Egypt was safe, as no one could ever find the coins."  
  
"One by one the gods went back to their normal lives...all but Anubis who never gave up on the search. And then, a few weeks ago, an archiologist FOUND one of the silver coins. I was a mess! Anubis left the temple in pursuit of the coin, and I followed. And my search has lead me here, to Domino."  
  
Ishizu smiled.  
  
"The ancient coin is in my Egyptian wing of the Domino Museum," she explained kindly. "We will guard it, do not worry."  
  
Bastet sighed, turning around.  
  
"I do worry, because Anubis had powers that can surpass even mine," she mumbled.  
  
She looked up at Seto and recognized him.  
  
"Oh, this one stepped on me yesterday," she said to Ishizu and Yugi.  
  
"You tripped me," Seto replied, crossing his arms.  
  
Bastet's eyes grew wide.  
  
"How...how do you understand me?" she asked, then gasped.  
  
"No...it...it can't be," she cried nervously.  
  
"I don't know what you did to me yesterday, but ever since I've had dreams including images of the things you've just described," Seto replied. "Including those coins."  
  
Bastet looked horrified.  
  
"No...a goddess' bite does strange things, and mine must have transferred some of my power and memory into you, and since suppressed memories are still there, that means you know the location of the second coin!" Bastet exclaimed.  
  
Seto looked disbelieving.  
  
"I can't know," he replied. "All of those dreams are just flashes of pictures. They make no sense."  
  
Bastet shook her head frantically.  
  
"No...they can still be accessed by other powers," she replied nervously. "I must remove my influence on you at once, or else, you, and all of Egypt are in great danger of Anubis."  
  
Yugi looked up at Yami, who shrugged.  
  
Seto sighed.  
  
"Fine," he replied. "It'll be nice to sleep again without being tortured by these images."  
  
Bastet's necklace began to glow, but at that moment, something large and black with the head of a jackal leapt down from the roof of Domino station and right in between Bastet and Seto.  
  
********  
  
Bakura, Taerro, and Tristan were searching around in the bushed behind Bakura's house.  
  
"You know, this is stupid," Tristan said as he pushed a branch out of his way, only to have it snap back into his face.  
  
Bakura sighed and sat back, cross-legged, on the grass.  
  
"I know," he replied sadly. "I don't think Bastet is anywhere near my house anymore."  
  
Taerro popped up from inside of a bush.  
  
"Did you know Bastet was thought to be the goddess of fortune by some, and the goddess of love and fertility according to other books?" Taerro quizzed.  
  
Tristan threw some leaves at him.  
  
"No, and I really don't care that much," he replied. "I just want to find this cat and get our lives back to normal."  
  
Taerro shrugged.  
  
"It is rather interesting to read up on Egyptian and Greek myths though," he protested.  
  
Bakura shrugged.  
  
"Maybe," he thought, looking up at the sky. "I hope the others are ok," he thought to himself.  
  
********  
  
Joey and Serenity opened the door to their house and walked in to hear the telephone blaring off the hook.  
  
"Yaiaiai!" Joey cried, then got a grip on himself.  
  
"Oh, it's only my telephone," he thought, taking deep breaths to calm himself as he walked over to the phone and picking it up off the receiver. "Hello?"  
  
There was no noise on the other end.  
  
"Hello?!" Joey said, louder this time, as Serenity hung her sweater in the closet and walked into the kitchen.  
  
"Hmm...no one there," Joey thought shakily, hanging up the phone and running out into the kitchen after Serenity.  
  
*******  
  
"An...nubis!" Bastet cried, backing into Ishizu and Yami.  
  
Tea shrieked and grabbed onto Mokuba's arm, as Mokuba himself grabbed his brother's arm.  
  
  
  
Anubis smiled, his jagged teeth gleaming white and razor sharp.  
  
"Bastet, so we meet again," he snarled, looking around at the others nearby. "Now I think it is time you give up and tell me the location of those coins..."  
  
  
  
"I've told you before, I don't know! So torturing me won't give you the answer and you know it," she snapped, her silver collar glowing brightly.  
  
"She's trying to remove her powers from Kaiba while talking," Yami realized in his mind. "Hurry!"  
  
Anubis grinned, advancing on Bastet.  
  
"I overheard your conversation from the roof of that building," he taunted, picking Bastet up by her collar. Bastet shrieked a cat-like shriek.  
  
"And I know that the man over there now knows the location," Anubis snarled, holding onto Bastet, and a blue-ish substance covered her for a moment, then her body went limp.  
  
Anubis tossed her across the area in which they had been talking, and she fell into the bushes somewhere near the building.  
  
"Bastet!" Yugi cried, although no one could hear him but Yami because he was a spirit, or so he thought.  
  
"Her power is gone," he informed the others, looking directly at Yugi. "And I can hear even spirits, so don't think you can fool me."  
  
Yugi and Yami gasped.  
  
Ishizu backed away.  
  
"You're horrible," Seto said flatly, pulling his brother behind him so he wouldn't get hurt by Anubis in case he attacked.  
  
Anubis grinned.  
  
"I'll be coming for you after a visit to Domino Museum," Anubis snarled with an evil grin.  
  
Seto didn't move.  
  
"So for now, why don't you all just, wait around," he said, looking around and spotting a meat truck with the back door open, the man just finishing unloading the meat that needed to be delivered to Domino Station.  
  
"I'll know where to find you," he said, as suddenly, Yami, Ishizu, Seto, Mokuba and Tea were all levitated up and thrust forward and into the truck.  
  
"No!" Ishizu cried as the door slammed shut as if my magic, and the back latch locked.  
  
Yami and Seto stood up and ran over to the door, but it was locked.  
  
"Drat it," Seto said, pounding on the door.  
  
"What was that thing?" Tea quavered, her voice shaking, from where she was sitting, on top of a piece of packaged meat.  
  
"Anubis," Ishizu explained, and told them what Bastet had said during their conversation.  
  
"So now Anubis is going to get the first coin from your museum, and probe my niisama's memory for the location of the second?!" Mokuba cried.  
  
Ishizu nodded.  
  
"And then he will have the powers to control all of Egypt," she concluded.  
  
Tea shivered.  
  
"This is bad," she said, rubbing her arms.  
  
Yugi nodded.  
  
"I know," he replied. "But there's no way out of this truck, and soon," he shivered. "Well, we just need to get out of here."  
  
There was the roar of an engine and the truck jerked, sending Ishizu, Seto, and Yugi, all of whom had been standing, flying across the truck and crashing into Mokuba and Tea. (And of course, in Ishizu's case, the meat)  
  
"The truck is moving!" Mokuba cried, struggling to get up under Yugi's weight.  
  
"Drat," Seto muttered angrily as he stood up, leaning his hand on the wall of the truck to keep balance.  
  
"Where are we heading toward?" Tea asked, even though she already knew the answer, standing up, and teetering around.   
  
She grabbed Seto's hand to steady herself, then let go abruptly.  
  
"Oh no!" Ishizu gasped, grabbing onto a piece of hanging meat, then cringing. "Malik and Lishito! They're at the museum, right where Anubis is heading!"  
  
********  
  
End of Chapter 6  
  
"Well, this one was pretty long too!"  
  
Yep, though 4 was probably longer still.  
  
Anyway, review please! PLEASE! Thanks, and next chapter up tomorrow! ^_~  
  
"(And if she doesn't get it up tomorrow, Sunday then.") 


	7. Chapter 7: Caught

Chapter Seven: Caught  
  
Notes: Anubis is my favorite character from the old myths, so he'd be sure to show up eventually. And the personality for Anubis is partially my brother's, (he does a great voice too! ^_^) so I have to give him credit.  
  
"More disclaimers? **sigh**"  
  
Yes, more disclaimers. Now, on with Chapter 7!  
  
********  
  
"Malik and Lishito said they were going back to the museum! They are in great danger!" Ishizu cried, standing up and teetering slightly as the truck to a turn.  
  
"We've got to help them, but how can we while we're stuck in here?" Tea asked glumly.  
  
Seto looked at the door.  
  
"I don't know," he muttered.  
  
Yugi walked over to the door and pounded on it.  
  
"Let us out!" he shouted.  
  
The truck took another turn and Yugi toppled over. Tea ran over to help him up.  
  
"It's no good," Seto sighed, leaning against the wall. "There's no way to open the door."  
  
But as soon as the words left his mouth, the door to the truck rattled. Everyone looked up just in time to see it fly open, the wind from outside now blowing in the chilly room.  
  
"N...no way!" Tea cried, putting her hands to her mouth.  
  
Seto's eyes were wide. Mokuba looked up at his older brother.  
  
"Nii-sama..." he said, shocked. "How did you do that?"  
  
Seto shook his head, clearing his thoughs.  
  
"It was probably just a...a coincidence," he said, although his feeble attempt at covering it up was not enough to fool even himself.  
  
Ishizu looked oddly at him.  
  
"It must be Bastet's powers that she transferred to you," she explained. "You must be able to use some of her powers without even knowing that you are."  
  
Seto crossed his arms.  
  
  
  
"That's ridiculous," he scoffed as they made their way slowing toward the edge of the moving vehicle.  
  
"But it's true," Ishizu replied, looking out at the moving terrain outside.  
  
"Should we wait for a stop light?" Tea asked, the wind blowing her hair wildly around.  
  
Yugi nodded.  
  
"Yeah," he replied. "It shouldn't be too long a wait. Then we'll get over to the museum and help Malik and Lishito."  
  
Tea frowned.  
  
"But what about Kaiba? He's in danger too," she said, causing Seto to frown.  
  
"Nobody needs to worry about me," Seto replied as the vehicle jerked to a stop, sending Ishizu toppling into Yugi, who helped her up.  
  
  
  
"Hurry!" Seto said, climbing out of the vehicle and helping Mokuba out as well.  
  
Yugi followed, and Ishizu and Tea were right behind him.  
  
The five hurried over to the side of the road, ignoring the wide-eyed stares from the family in the mini-van behind the meat truck.  
  
"I'm glad we're out of there," Tea sighed, as they watched the light turn green and the meat-truck take a sharp turn around the corner.  
  
"Yeah..." Yugi sighed, then gasped as a packaged piece of meat fell out of the back of the truck through the open door.  
  
Mokuba gulped.  
  
"Uh...let's keep going, right?" Yugi asked with an embarrassed grin as the truck sped away.  
  
Seto nodded.  
  
"Nothing we could do about that truck now anyway," he replied.  
  
"Hurry!" Ishizu cried, a worried look in her eyes. "We must get to the museum!"  
  
Yugi nodded, and the five hurried down the sidewalk.  
  
"Hey, that's Joey's house," Tea exclaimed, pointing as they ran by. "Should we fill him in?"  
  
"No time!" Yugi cried, continuing to run. "Besides, isn't he still all scared from that weird movie he watched anyway?"  
  
"Oh yeah..." Tea muttered, a small smile creeping over her face, despite the present situation. "Every time the phone rings, he jumps under the cushions.  
  
Seto laughed despite himself.  
  
*********  
  
Meanwhile, inside Joey's house, the telephone rang one again.  
  
"Yow!" Joey cried, then took a deep breath.  
  
"There's no such thing as deadly video tapes and curse phone calls and..." he muttered to himself as he walked out of the kitchen and into the hallway to answer the phone.  
  
"Hello, this is Joey," he said casually, leaning on the stairs.  
  
There was silence on the other end.  
  
"Hello?" Joey asked, his smile abruptly fading and sweat beads beginning to form on his forehead. "Anyone...there?"  
  
Still, no answer.  
  
Joey slowly hung the phone back on the hook and turned to walk away. But as he turned, the telephone rang again.  
  
Joey quickly picked it up.  
  
"Hey Yugi? Did you hang up accidentally last time?" he asked cheerily.  
  
No reply.  
  
"HELLO?!" he yelled into the phone.  
  
Nothing.  
  
He quickly hung it up again, and no sooner had it reached the hook, it rang again.  
  
"Ahh!" Joey cried, running upstairs to his bedroom and closing the door.  
  
"This is too creepy! I'm being stalked by a ghost!" he whispered, leaning against the door and sliding down to the ground, sweating like crazy. "What to do?"  
  
********  
  
Malik and Lishito walked down the Egyptian wing of the museum, Malik in front, searching for the light switch to illuminate the wing.  
  
"I always forget where that switch is," Malik grumbled, nearly crashing into the glass display case where the silver coin and a few other small items were being held.  
  
Lishito nodded, although no one could see in the darkness. Suddenly, a low growl and a crash was heard at the end of the wing. Malik stood up straight and stopped in his tracks.  
  
"What was that...Lishito?" Malik whispered, holding his breath.  
  
Lishito shook his head.  
  
"I am not sure," he replied, gently brushing Malik aside. "But I will go see for you."  
  
He started to walk forward.  
  
"Be careful, Lishito!" Malik hissed, worrying about his friend.   
  
"Do not worry, Malik," Lishito called back, reassuringly.  
  
Suddenly, something rushed by Lishito, knocking him off of his feet and sending him crashing into the bench.  
  
"Lishito?" Malik cried, but gasped when he saw Anubis right in front of him.  
  
"Who...who are you!?" he cried, backing away, looking over at Lishito out of the corner of his eye.  
  
Anubis grinned that razor-toothed grin and slammed his fist into the glass case containing the silver coin and the other artifacts.  
  
"What are you doing?!" Malik screamed as Anubis took the silver coin into his clawed hands, causing it to glow.  
  
Anubis turned around to face Malik.  
  
"I'm taking my first prize," he snarled, standing so close Malik could feel his hot breath on his face.  
  
"First prize?" Malik thought in his mind, backing up a tad.  
  
"Now, get out of my way and you will be spared," he snapped.  
  
As Malik thought quickly about what to do, there was a slam as a door at the end of the corridor burst open.  
  
"Anubis!" Someone familiar yelled as a group of people appeared at the door.  
  
********  
  
Outside Domino Station Bastet's eyes fluttered open.  
  
"Ow..." she moaned as she stood up painfully, and looked around.  
  
Yugi, the girls, and the boy and his brother had disappeared, and so had Anubis.  
  
"Ow..." she muttered, closing her eyes and waiting for her silver collar to heal her, but nothing happened.  
  
Her eyes snapped open and narrowed miserably.  
  
"Anubis drained my powers..." she thought, looking around.  
  
She shivered.  
  
"Powerless to help them, and soon Anubis will probe that boy's mind for the answer of the location of the second coin! What will I do?" she thought, stumbling off down the street.  
  
********  
  
Bakura, Tristan, and Taerro ambled down the street. Taerro was reading a pocket Spanish dictionary, Tristan was eating a sno-cone, and Bakura was staring at the ground as they walked.  
  
"So...the cat's not at your house," Tristan said as he munched the last of the sno-cone. "Maybe we ought to just go to my house, get Blankey, (Tristan's dog. She's a German Shepherd and I've only seen her in the manga) and then track down the stupid feline."  
  
"But your dog most likely can't sniff out the cat. And if we ever did find it, it would run away because the dog would scare it off," Taerro said matter-of-factly.  
  
Tristan sighed.  
  
"All right, then YOU think of a good idea," he snapped at Taerro.  
  
"Que pasa?" he asked, winking at Tristan.  
  
"You know I don't speak Spanish!" Tristan growled hotly.  
  
Taerro laughed.  
  
"It means what's wrong?" he replied with a small smile of satisfaction.  
  
Tristan kicked a pebble.  
  
"I'd like to know where to find this cat so we can get on with our lives," he sighed.  
  
"I'd like to find it to get some answers," Bakura thought secretly in his mind.  
  
*******  
  
**Bring! Bring! Bring! BRING!**  
  
Joey cowered by his door, the phone ringing off the hook downstairs.  
  
"Eee...this is too freaky..." he thought, sweat dripping down his forehead.   
  
It was getting hot in his room.  
  
"This is ridiculous," Joey suddenly thought to himself, standing up. "I know Yugi wouldn't be in here cowering. My friends need my help and I'm up in my room hiding from the telephone? I don't think so."  
  
He opened the door and walked downstairs.  
  
"I...I'm going out, Serenity!" Joey yelled, running past the ringing telephone and out the front door.  
  
Serenity peeked out of the kitchen, and at that moment, the telephone stopped ringing.  
  
"Oniichan must have gotten an important call," she thought to herself as she sat back down at the table to finish her snack. "I hope he'll be careful with that odd cat running lose..."  
  
*******  
  
Anubis, and Malik turned around to see Yugi, Tea, Ishizu, Seto, and Mokuba standing in the doorway.  
  
"Neesan!" Malik called, darting out of the way of Anubis as he hurtled forward.  
  
"One coin down!" he snarled, and Tea noticed the silver coin clenched in his fist.  
  
"He's got the coin, Yugi!" Tea cried, tugging on his arm.  
  
Yugi looked over at Seto.  
  
"Guys, go hide! I can deal with him with Yami's help!" Yugi yelled, and Ishizu and Tea ducked behind the glass case as Anubis rushed by.  
  
"I'm not hiding," Seto snapped stubbornly, looking around and spotting a shield on the floor.  
  
"Seto, you're who he's after!" Yami yelled as he took over Yugi's body, the Millennium Puzzle glowing brightly.  
  
"I'm still not running," Seto replied, picking up the shield (it was small, and therefore, not very heavy) and tossing it like a frisbee at Anubis's feet, causing the jackal-headed man to slip and topple over onto the cold museum floor.  
  
Anubis howled and he attempted to get to his feet.  
  
"Mokuba, go over with the girls," Seto instructed, pushing his brother over to the wall.  
  
"But Seto..." he protested as he was lead over. "I don't want you to..."  
  
"Mind CRUSH!" Yami yelled, trusted out his fist and attempted to destroy Anubis, but the jackal ducked and the powerful burst of magic cracked the window at the other end of the hallway instead.  
  
"No!" Yami muttered, as Anubis charged forward.  
  
"Yami!" Yugi cried in spiritual form as the jackal approached.  
  
Yami slid out of the way, crashing into another bench that bordered the wall.  
  
Anubis attempted to grab Seto, but Seto ducked, sending the jackal-headed man flying through the window, showering Mokuba, Tea, Ishizu, and Seto with glass shards.  
  
Malik and Lishito, who was rubbing his head, ran up to the others. Malik helped Yugi to his feet as they watched the window cautiously.  
  
"Stand back!" Yami called, preparing to mind crush once more.  
  
Without warning, Anubis popped back up through the window and Seto suddenly flew toward him.  
  
"Niisama!" Mokuba cried, but Tea held him back.  
  
"No! There's nothing you can do," she hissed. "Yugi! Do something!" she yelled over at Yugi as Anubis grabbed Seto's wrist with his clawed hands.  
  
"Let go!" Seto growled angrily, kicking the god in the shins.  
  
Anubis yowled, and then, the two of them disappeared in a puff of blue smoke.  
  
"No! Niisama!" Mokuba cried, breaking out of Tea's grip and running over to where his brother and Anubis had just been.  
  
Yami looked shocked.  
  
"What just happened?" Malik asked, looking around at everyone else. "Lishito and I were walking down the halls and this guy that looked like Anubis ran in and stole the silver coin that was in the collection."  
  
Ishizu sighed sadly.  
  
"It IS Anubis, and if he probes Seto's memories for the location of the second coin, the whole of Egypt, and possibly the world, will be at stake."  
  
"What about my brother?" Mokuba asked shrilly. "What will he do to him?"  
  
Yami swallowed.  
  
What would Anubis do when he was finished with Kaiba? He hadn't shown any mercy to Bastet...  
  
"Bastet!" Yami exclaimed suddenly, causing the others to look at him.  
  
"She was hurt by Anubis and we left her back by Domino Station!" Tea cried, looking at the others as well.  
  
"Perhaps if we can find her, she can help us find Kaiba," Yami explained.  
  
Malik cocked his head.  
  
"What? I though the cat was the bad one," he said, looking confused.  
  
Tea shook her head.  
  
"Bastet was only warning us of the greater evil threat," she sighed, looking out the broken window.  
  
"Anubis," Yami said in a low voice.  
  
******  
  
End of Chapter 7  
  
"Awww...poor Seto's been kidnapped!"  
  
Well, I guess you could put it that way, but I like "been taken captive by the evil enemy" a lot better.  
  
"There's a difference?"  
  
Yeah. Now please review, and come back tomorrow ("OR Tuesday") for Chapter 8. Thanks for reading! ^_^ 


	8. Chapter 8: New Threats, New Allies

Chapter 8: New Threats, New Allies  
  
Notes: Another "new" (well, at least new to my little adventure series) character will be introduced in this chapter, although he's been in another story before. For more information on him and his story, check out my story titled "Ancient Lies." http://www.fanfiction.com/read.php?storyid=1416641  
  
"Yeah, and for everyone who has ALREADY read Ancient Lies, you can probably guess who'll be making an appearance in this story. ^_~"  
  
Yep! Now let's see, thank you for the reviews, and yes, I feel sorry for both Seto and Joey. (A tad more so for Seto, because he's been taken by Anubis and I like him better anyway.)  
  
And...yeah, Lady of The Thread: Thanks for recommending that story. It was pretty interesting. ^_~ And everyone seems to think Joey's phone is just ringing off the hook because of prank callers, right?  
  
  
  
"Well, remember, the real "ringing-off-the-hook" think only started after they were running by his house and laughing about the idea of him being scared of the phone. Who was with them who had the ability to accidentally cause that phone to start ringing?"  
  
^_~ Oh, and I've never said this before, but I thought I might, in case some people misinterpret stuff in my story, THIS IS NOT, AND I REPEAT, NOT A YAOI!!! (K? Good. Just for future info, I don't write ANYTHING yaoi.) :P  
  
"Okay! Enough chit-chat. Let's go!"  
  
********  
  
Chapter 8: New Threats, New Allies  
  
"So we're heading back to Domino Station?" Tea inquired as she, Yugi, Mokuba, who was silent with worry, and the Ishtar family walked down the sidewalks again, back toward the center of the city.  
  
Yugi nodded.  
  
"Yes, we need to find Bastet," Yugi replied.  
  
Ishizu looked ahead.  
  
"I only hope she is alright," she replied, remembering her encounter with Anubis.  
  
Lishito nodded.  
  
"Where are the others?" he asked her.  
  
Yugi put his finger to his chin, thinking.  
  
"Amber and Duke are at Duke's, Joey and Serenity went back to their home, and Taerro, Tristan, and Bakura were going..." He trailed off.  
  
"To look for Bastet at Bakura's, remember?" Tea filled in, looking over at Yugi.  
  
Yugi nodded.  
  
"Yeah...now I remember," he said, looking up at the sky. "Gee, they don't even know Bastet's on our side or that Anubis exists."  
  
Tea laughed.  
  
"I'm sure Taerro knows all about Anubis," she giggled. "He seems to know about everything else."  
  
Mokuba sighed.  
  
"I hope niisama's okay," he said softly.  
  
Tea put her arm comfortingly around Mokuba's shoulder.  
  
"Don't worry," she told him, although, she herself was worrying...for everyone.  
  
********  
  
Anubis and Seto reappeared in the middle of a strange Egyptian temple. Statues of animal-headed people were standing along the stone walls, and there were a few inscriptions on what appeared to be ancient plaques on the floor.  
  
Seto broke free of Anubis's grip, and staggered away.  
  
"Where the heck are we?" he demanded, looking around the temple.  
  
Anubis snarled.  
  
"My home," he snapped, looking around as well. "Pretty, don't you think?"  
  
Seto didn't reply.  
  
"His home?" he thought to himself. "Does that mean we're in Egypt?!"  
  
"Pretty SMALL if you ask me," Anubis continued, as if Seto was a friend and not a prisoner.   
  
He tossed the first silver coin up in the air and then caught it again with his clawed hand. He laughed to himself.  
  
"But I won't have to put up with all of this once I get the second coin, and win the little game that we started all those years ago," he said evilly, glaring over at Seto with his white eyes.  
  
"I won't give you the location," Seto said firmly, backing up a bit. "I can't even figure it out myself."  
  
Anubis laughed and advanced on Seto.  
  
"It doesn't matter if you can't figure out the secret," Anubis said with a grin, walking forward.  
  
Seto felt the cold stone wall touch his back, and a little sweat drop slipped down his cheek. What was there to do now? Anubis reached his hands forward, but as he did, Seto ducked under them, and rushed away from Anubis and to the other side of the room.  
  
Anubis growled and turned around again.  
  
Seto looked around for the exit, somewhere to escape the clutches of the Egyptian god.  
  
"As much as I hate to give into to something completely unrealistic," he thought to himself finally, after exhausting all possible escape routes. "It seems to be the only option, so if I have any sort of "power", now would be a good time to use it."  
  
Seto closed his eyes as he stepped backward onto one of the plaques on the floor.  
  
"Slam against the wall," he thought, thinking the first that came to mind, however, a small statue of a bird of some sort, one of the same birds from his dream, fell over and crashed on to the floor, littering it with bits and pieces of broken stone.  
  
"You can't use the powers Bastet gave you," Anubis chuckled, advancing further. "Now give me that location!"  
  
Seto froze, and found his mind going through memories; Memories of his own life and memories of things that happened in Ancient Egypt, that he was sure he had not been alive to witness.  
  
Suddenly, the whirling pictures of memories stopped upon one scene, that looked as if it had taken place in this very temple Anubis and Seto were in at the moment.  
  
~~Several people, Egyptian gods, he supposed, were gathered around, all with animal heads and human bodies.  
  
"I'm tired of being around peacefully," A man who looked strikingly like Anubis yelled at the others. "What I want is power!"  
  
"Yes, yes," said the bird with the long beak, whose statue Seto had just broken. "But isn't that what we all want, Anubis."  
  
"How are we to decide which of us is the rightful owner of Egypt?" A man in a bright golden orb spoke out.  
  
"Why not how the people decide things?" A hippo asked.  
  
The bird glared at her.  
  
"Play games with little pieces of rock?" he snapped angrily. "I thought you had more sense than that!"  
  
  
  
Anubis grinned.  
  
"No, no wait, Thoth, she may have a good idea," he said in a low voice.  
  
The hippo glared at Thoth, who merely turned back to Anubis.  
  
"Really?" he asked.  
  
The golden orb shook.  
  
"Yes, I believe a game is a fine way to settle things," he replied. "Though, not with stone and monsters as the people do, but with these."  
  
Two silver coins appeared on the floor in front of him. The gods and goddesses gathered around and gazed at them.  
  
"Flip them and decide who is heads and who is tails?" The hippo inquired.  
  
Anubis frowned.  
  
"No," he snapped. "HIDE them. Have someone who isn't interested in power, like Bastet, hide the two, and the first god or goddess to collect them both will be granted the power over Egypt, agreed?"  
  
There was a moment of mumbling, then all the gods and goddesses transferred a bit of their powers into the coins, so that the keeper of both would have far greater powers than any of the others.  
  
Anubis threw the two coins across the room to a cat who was crouched on the floor.  
  
"Bastet, hide those first thing in the morning, and then announce when the game will begin," he snapped.  
  
Bastet turned from a cat into a woman with the head of a cat to stand eye-level with Anubis.  
  
"You won't get away with this," she hissed. "You're betraying Osiris."  
  
Anubis laughed.  
  
"Don't be ridiculous," he scoffed. "Now just do as you're told."~~  
  
Seto's eyes widened as more of the memories were being unfolded.  
  
They showed Bastet, talking to Osiris, then hiding one in a tomb of a pyramid, and another deep under the sands of a little lake.  
  
The lake waters rippled as she climbed out and walked over to Osiris, who leaned over her, obviously removing the memories of everything she had done.~~  
  
"There it IS!" Anubis cried, the memories ceasing to continue playing and Seto collapsing on the plaque on the floor. "The location of the second coin! I know where it is..."  
  
Seto grabbed a lose piece of rock and chucked it at Anubis, striking him in the chest.  
  
"Why you..." Anubis growled, but turned away, his teeth clinking together as he snapped his pointed mouth shut once more. "I have no time to waste on you, mortal."  
  
He stomped over to a wall and pressed his clawed hand up to one rather worn stone. A portion of the stonewall began slowly rising up and opening up an exit for Anubis, who promptly stomped out into the sands of the desert, the wall coming back down again, leaving Seto inside.  
  
********  
  
Yugi, Tea, Mokuba, Lishito, Malik, and Ishizu continued down the sidewalk toward Domino Station.  
  
"I hope we can find her..." Tea said softly, looking at a little boy playing with a beagle. "And that some dog hasn't already."  
  
She shuddered at the thought of what a playful dog might do to an injured cat.  
  
Suddenly, something black appeared on the horizon, and Yugi squinted to see what it was.  
  
"Is that..." Mokuba began, as the shape stumbled on the sidwalk.  
  
"It's her!" Tea cried.  
  
"Bastet!" Yugi cried running over to the limping cat as the hurried down the sidewalk.  
  
Bastet crumpled in Yugi's arms.  
  
"Bastet! Are you alright?" Tea asked, concerned, as she bent down to see her.  
  
Bastet took a breath.  
  
"I'm alright," she replied slowly, lifting herself back up. "But my powers...they've been drained temporarily."  
  
Mokuba's eyes grew wide.  
  
"They will come back, won't they?" he asked nervously.  
  
Bastet nodded.  
  
"Soon," she replied.  
  
Ishizu had her hand up near her heart.  
  
  
  
Soon? How soon was soon? They needed to stop Anubis now!  
  
"Bastet, Anubis took Kaiba and...left in a puff of blue smoke," Yugi explained, letting the cat rest in his lap. "Can you help us? Where would he have taken him."  
  
"Egypt," Bastet whispered, laying her head on Yugi's knee. "He would take him to the gods' temple."  
  
"The...gods' temple?" Tea asked curiously, cocking her head.  
  
Bastet nodded as Yugi scratched her ear.  
  
"Yes...it was where...we lived..." she said to Tea. "It is also where they buried nobles and people of importance that passed away in battle. But once he finishes with your friend's memory...he will find the coin..."  
  
"I know Bastet," Yugi said urgently. "But we need to get there and stop him!"  
  
"And get niisama back," Mokuba added eagerly.  
  
Lishito nodded, crossing his arms as Bastet struggled to her feet.  
  
"I...might have enough power to get us there...but after that...you'd be on your own for a while," she said to them, her eyes half closed.  
  
"Bastet," Yugi thought to himself, concerned for the goddess. "Yami?" he asked his other self, wanting his take on the situation.  
  
Yami appeared beside him.  
  
"Perhaps...it might work," he said to Yugi, though he too, looked wary about this new idea.  
  
Tea stood up, brushing pine leaves off of her pants. She looked around at the crowds flocking down the streets and around the city of Domino.  
  
"What about the others?" she asked, looking down at Yugi.  
  
"I doubt they'll figure that we've gone to Egypt," Malik agreed with a nod. "Should one of us stay behind and tell them?"  
  
While the others pondered this decision, Lishito looked up at a noise.  
  
"I do not believe that is necessary," he said in his deep voice, pointing at four running teenagers who were hurrying down the pavement toward them.  
  
"Oi! Yugi!" Came a familiar voice and Yugi looked up to see Joey, Bakura, Tristan, and Taerro running up to them.  
  
"Hey, what's going on...?" Joey asked, looking down at the cat who was attempting to stand on her own. "So you caught the little thief, did you?"  
  
Bakura looked down at Bastet with sad eyes. What had happened to it since the last time they met? Was she injured from falling out the window the previous night during the encounter with the spirit of the Millennium Ring?  
  
"It's a long story guys, but we don't have much time! We need to get to Egypt and stop Anubis," Yugi declared, standing up.  
  
Taerro cocked his head.  
  
"Anubis?" he asked curiously. "The Egyptian god of..."  
  
"Embalming!" Tea filled in. "We know. But we have to get there now!"  
  
"Gather close, everyone," Bastet whispered, and all of the gang crowed around her.  
  
A blue light suddenly surrounded them all, engulfing them in it. Tea shrieked as they suddenly left Domino City and took off for the Egyptian temple.  
  
*********  
  
Seto lay on the floor, for a moment, collecting his strength again. Anubis had the location...and he was trapped in the room for the time being.  
  
Who knew where Mokuba and the others were, and even if they were safe, how would they know to look for him in an old temple in Egypt? Not to mention, how was he to stop Anubis by himself if he could get out?  
  
"I need someone to help..." he thought to himself as he closed his eyes, laying his head down on the cool stone plaque on the floor.  
  
As he lay there, a blue light suddenly came up from the plaque and began forming into a shape just above where Seto was resting. The blue smoke formed into the shape of a very familiar looking man, who blinked when the smoke had finished reforming.  
  
"What in the..." The man asked in a very familiar voice, looking around fro in the air where he was suspended. "The temple of the gods?"  
  
Seto's eyes snapped open, and he sat up quickly, looking around for the source of the voice. Had Anubis returned? But the voice sounded so familiar, though he couldn't place his finger on where he knew it from.  
  
"Who's there?" he demanded quickly, standing up.  
  
He turned to the wall, where there was obviously some sort of mirror, as he saw himself staring back at him. He looked at his reflection curiously for a moment, wondering why there would be a mirror in an Egyptian temple.  
  
"I look a bit odd," he thought, leaning forward, when he suddenly realized he was not staring into a mirror.  
  
He was, in fact, staring at another person.  
  
********  
  
End of Chapter 8  
  
"Know who the person is?"  
  
^_~ It's oh-so-obvious even if you didn't read Ancient Lies, but you might want to check out that story anyway 'cause something that happens in this story kind of relates to something that happened in that one.  
  
"Yes, it does. But for now, just leave a review and let us know what you though. And next chapter, as always, will either be up tomorrow or Wednesday." ^_^  
  
Thanks for reading! And oh, yeah, Lady of the Thread: Taerro and Yami Bakura's battle took place after the last story, and before this one. I might have a flashback to it in a later chapter/story, so you know how it happened, but I didn't feel like including it right away. 


	9. Chapter 9: Surprises

Chapter 9: Surprises  
  
Notes: Yep! You got it, Lady of the Thread. ^_^ I liked writing about him so much in Ancient Lies I thought it would be cool if I brought him back into one of my regular stories.   
  
Anyway, Seto being "taken captive by the enemy" (^_~) does make him appear more like Yugi and the others.  
  
Also, Priest Seto, is Ancient Seto, and Seto is Seto Kaiba, k?  
  
Well, that's all for notes.  
  
* * * * ** * *  
  
Chapter 9: Surprises  
  
Seto gasped and backed away from the strange person who had suddenly appeared in the temple.  
  
"Who are you!" he cried, looking strangely at the man who appeared to be an exact copy of himself, only he was wearing purple, and more Egyptian-looking clothing.  
  
The man cocked his head.  
  
"I wanted to ask you the same thing," he replied. "Can you explain why you called me back here?"  
  
Seto frowned. Called him back?  
  
"What do you mean "back"?" Seto asked curiously, crossing his arms.  
  
The man looked around.  
  
"Well, I am no longer part of this life," he replied, causing Seto's eyes to widen in shock.  
  
Bastet's powers never seemed to do what he wanted to do, yet they were perfect when it came to calling 3000 year old men back from the dead.  
  
"Well, in that case, who WERE you?" Seto repeated, restating his question.  
  
"I was the high priest, Priest Seto," The man replied.  
  
"What did you say your name was?" Seto asked.  
  
Priest Seto blinked.  
  
"Seto," he repeated. "And who are you?"  
  
Seto paced the floor, thinking.  
  
"My name is Seto Kaiba," Seto replied hastily, trying to think of what to do.  
  
"Seto?" Priest Seto inquired with a smile. "So I guess what Isis always said was true; you do end up with a reincarnate."  
  
"Reincarnate?" Seto asked suddenly. "I don't believe in such a thing."  
  
"That's a shame, because you're one yourself," Priest Seto said tauntingly. "It would be a pity not to believe in your own existence."  
  
He chuckled at his joke.  
  
Seto narrowed his eyes at the priest, inwardly sighed. There was nothing he could do about this man now, so perhaps at the least he could help him out of the temple.  
  
"Listen," Seto said finally, still not ready to completely accept the fact that he was a reincarnate of this man. "As long as you're here, you may as well be helpful."  
  
The priest crossed his arms.  
  
"It depends on what you need help with," he replied.  
  
"Anubis has found out the location of the second coin, and now the whole of Egypt is in trouble," Seto explained hastily, assuming the priest would be familiar with all this.  
  
Priest Seto blinked, then shook his head.  
  
"What did you say?" he asked, narrowing his eyes in confusion.  
  
Seto sighed.  
  
"Didn't you ever bother to find out what your gods and goddesses did up here?" Seto asked.  
  
The priest narrowed his eyes at Seto.  
  
"We had other things to attend to, like protecting the city," he snapped. "So in answer to your question, no, most of the time we did NOT know."  
  
Seto tapped his foot impatiently.  
  
"Well, if he gets this coin, then all control of Egypt, and powers beyond any of the others, will be transferred to him," Seto said, looking anxiously at the wall where Anubis had left, almost in disbelief that he was actually saying all of this, and to a spirit at that! "Now I don't have time to give you a history lesson, so either inform me on how to leave this temple or go back to wherever you came from."  
  
Priest Seto floated over to Seto.  
  
"I have no choice but to follow you around until you put me back," he told Seto.  
  
Seto sighed.  
  
"You think I enjoy following my arrogant reincarnate around?" Priest Seto retorted as Seto walked over to the wall.  
  
"Arrogant? I'm a reincarnate of you, aren't I?" Seto replied with a sly smile. "You'd better be careful what you call me."  
  
Priest Seto huffed, crossing his arms.  
  
"What are you doing now?" he asked Seto, as Seto placed his hand up against the piece of stone that Anubis had just a moment before.  
  
"Trying to find a way out of here," Seto replied, the stone wall jerking and the piece of the wall lifting up.  
  
* * * * * * *  
  
Amber and Duke sighed as they both collapsed downstairs on the sofa. They'd spent the past hour drying the upstairs carpeting and moping the bathroom up, and now the pair were quite tired.  
  
"If I DID leave the faucet on," Amber sighed. "I'm never doing it again."  
  
"Me neither," Duke replied, wiping beats of sweat off of his forehead with his vest.  
  
The two were quiet for a moment.  
  
"Still want to go over to the shop?" she asked with a laugh in her voice.  
  
Duke rolled his eyes.  
  
"No way, I'm quite contend here on the couch thank you," he replied, closing his eyes dreamily.  
  
"Will someone else get to it?" she asked, more seriously this time.  
  
Duke shrugged.  
  
"Yeah, hopefully," he replied.  
  
There was silence, and the only noise that could be heard with the ticking of the clock on the wall of Duke's living room.  
  
"I hope the others are doing alright," Amber said suddenly.  
  
Duke nodded, opening his eyes.  
  
"Yeah...me too," he replied.  
  
* * * * * * * *  
  
There was a bright blue light back near the grave plaques, causing Seto and the spirit of Priest Seto to turn around and stare as several people appeared in the temple.  
  
"What's going on here?" Priest Seto asked as Yugi, Tea, Tristan, Joey, Bakura, Taerro, Mokuba, Ishizu, Malik, Lishito, and Bastet all appeared in the temple, backing away from each other and dizzily rubbing their heads.  
  
"Whoa...I'm not taking another trip like that anytime soon," Joey moaned, rubbing his head.  
  
Priest Seto floated around the new-coming people curiously.  
  
"Hmm...the reincarnate of the embalmer, the stone-worker, that dancer..." he said, naming off all of Yugi's friends, then stopping and glaring at Bakura.  
  
"Bakura!" he yelled, lunging forward at him, but as a spirit, he simply went right through him.  
  
"What are you doing?" Seto snapped, walking over to Priest Seto and frowning.  
  
"He..." he muttered angrily, pointing at Bakura. "He must be the reincarnate of the evil thief...the one who killed the priests."  
  
Seto rolled his eyes.  
  
"That boy is so kluzty he couldn't kill anyone even if he wanted," he replied. "Just quit it."  
  
"Who are you talking to, Kaiba?" Joey asked, raising an eyebrow as he saw Seto yelling at no one.  
  
"Can't you..." Seto began, then realized none of them probably could see this ancient priest.  
  
"Niisama!" Mokuba cried, running over to Seto and hugging him tightly. "Are you alright?"  
  
Seto hugged his brother back tightly, Priest Seto just watching them, surprised, a few feet above.  
  
"'Niisama'?" he asked, raising an eyebrow. "This is your, brother?"  
  
Seto ignored the priest.  
  
"I'm fine, Mokuba," he replied, looking happily at him.  
  
"Kaiba!" Yugi cried, running forward. "Where did Anubis go?"  
  
Ishizu stood up, holding Bastet's limp form in her arms.  
  
"Is she..." Tea asked worriedly, walking up to Ishizu, but Ishizu smiled.  
  
"Don't worry, Miss," she replied. "She will be fine."  
  
Tea breathed a sigh of relief, then looked around, more aware of her surroundings now that she knew everyone was okay.  
  
"Anubis left," Seto sighed. "He has the location of the second coin."  
  
Ishizu gasped.  
  
"We must find him before he gets his hands on the coin," Malik declared.  
  
"Even Isis and the Pharaoh himself have a reincarnate, I see," Priest Seto observed.  
  
"Would you stop that?" Seto asked, looking up at him.  
  
Mokuba raised an eyebrow.  
  
"Who's up there?" he asked curiously, finally letting go of his older brother.  
  
Seto sighed as everyone present stared at him.  
  
"Because of Bastet's powers, I accidentally awoke a spirit," Seto said, wondering whether anyone would believe such a ridiculous story or not.  
  
Then again, wasn't Yugi, as well as being the King of Games, the King of Strange-Stories?  
  
Yugi's eyes went wide.  
  
"You released a spirit that only you can see?" he asked, Yami appearing beside him. (Of course, no one but himself could see Yami.)  
  
Seto nodded reluctantly.  
  
"Besides Anubis," Seto added, remembering the jackal-headed god's powers.  
  
Yugi nodded.  
  
"Have you asked the spirit who he is yet?" Taerro asked. "Sometimes spirits tend to be shy..."  
  
"Taerro, is there any point in asking WHY you know all this?" Tristan muttered under his breath.  
  
"Well, if you recall, I had the spirit of an evil magician in me for a while," Taerro replied.  
  
"Oh yeah," Joey said, remembering.  
  
"I know who he is," Seto sighed.  
  
Priest Seto, who had been looking around at everyone else, suddenly noticed another spirit hovering around near Yugi.  
  
"Could it be...?" he asked, eyes wide. "The Pharaoh's spirit? In the Millennium Puzzle?" he cried.  
  
Yami cocked his head at the new spirit.  
  
"You must be the ancient priest," Yami said indifferently, crossing his arms.  
  
Priest Seto looked slightly hurt.  
  
"Pharaoh, you don't...remember me?" he asked sadly.  
  
Yami shook his head.  
  
"No, but I remember a duel between you and I," he replied.  
  
Priest Seto sighed.  
  
"You don't remember Bakura or any of the battles we fought together?" Priest Seto tried once more.  
  
Yami shook his head.  
  
"Who is he, niisama?" Mokuba asked curiously.  
  
Seto sighed.  
  
"The ancient high priest," he replied.  
  
"Your ancient self?" Ishizu asked walking forward with Bastet in her arms.  
  
Seto nodded angrily.  
  
"And only you can talk to him?" Mokuba asked excitedly. "That's kinda cool, niisama!"  
  
Priest Seto looked down at Mokuba.  
  
He so reminded him of someone he had known, long, long ago...  
  
Seto rolled his eyes.  
  
"Maybe," he sighed. "But for now, we need to find Anubis."  
  
"And prevent him from obtaining the last coin," Lishito reminded everyone.  
  
Yugi nodded, Yami returning to the puzzle.  
  
"Yes, we've got to!" he cried, running up to the open door. (Or wall, whichever you prefer. ^_~)  
  
"Let's go!" Tea cried, and all of the gang, the Ishtars, Seto and Mokuba, and the spirit of Priest Seto hurried out the door and after the jackal-headed menace, hoping they weren't too late to stop him.  
  
* * * * * * * *  
  
Meanwhile, Serenity was sitting at the table in the kitchen, wondering when her brother would return, and Amber and Duke were now watching a Spanish soap-opera, unaware of what trouble their friends were getting into.  
  
* * * * * * * *  
  
End of Chapter 9  
  
"Yay! Priest Seto's here! And now everyone's getting together to save the day!"  
  
-_- Are my plots ever that shallow?  
  
"Uh..."  
  
Nevermind, don't answer that. Readers, just review, and next chapter, as always, will be up sometime between tomorrow and Thursday. ^_~  
  
"Thanks for reading!" 


	10. Chapter 10: Trapped!

Chapter 10: Trapped!  
  
Notes: First of all, I'm not quite sure I understood what you were saying in your review, Silver and Golden.  
  
Secondly, Priest Seto in this story acts the same as he was portrayed in Ancient Lies, just in case anyone was wondering. (And don't ANYONE tell me he was supposed to be evil! ^_~)  
  
"Yes, she gets all touchy when that happens. That and when someone accuses Seto of being a jerk. I pity the poor people who are silly enough to say these things in front of her..."  
  
Okay! ^_^; Anyway, I'm glad you found it so amusing, Lady of the Thread! I was laughing myself when I wrote it.   
  
"I guess two Seto's are better than one!"  
  
Uh...(And one more thing: I know technically it probably wouldn't be nighttime in Japan AND in Egypt at the same time, but to make the story flow better I'm having it appear that way.)  
  
"She just HAD to say that, so no one would correct her."  
  
^_^;  
  
********  
  
Chapter 10: Trapped!  
  
Night fell on the barren desert, and the only light that was still shining was from the half moon that hung high in the black, velvety sky. Yugi and the others trudged through the sand, eyes peeled for any sign of the jackal-headed menace.  
  
"I'm tired," Tea complained, rubbing her bare legs. "And I'm getting sand burns."  
  
She rubbed at a raw spot near her ankle.  
  
"We have to keep going!" Yugi said, running ahead. "We've got to find out where Anubis is and prevent him from taking the coin."  
  
Mokuba yawned and leaned on his brother and they walked along. Seto picked him up in his arms and carried his little brother. Priest Seto was still floating along beside him.  
  
"So...tell me about yourself," Priest Seto said, his curiosity getting the better of him.  
  
Seto narrowed his eyes.  
  
"I'm 16, I'm a CEO of a company, I have a little brother, and I'm trying to get rid of an age-old Egyptian god," he said bluntly.  
  
Priest Seto's transparent eyes wandered down to Mokuba in Seto's arms.  
  
"Brother?" he wondered to himself. "That's funny, how destiny works."  
  
Joey sighed as he tripped on a sand dune.  
  
  
  
"Man, I'm beat," he said, brushing sand off his pants. "Can we call it a night, Yug?"  
  
"We would not be in a good condition to stop Anubis if we're all tired like this anyway," Malik put in.  
  
Taerro squinted around through his glasses.  
  
"I can't see a hotel anywhere. We look like we're in the middle of the desert," he sighed.  
  
"I don't want to camp out here!" Tristan exclaimed angrily.  
  
Yugi sighed.  
  
"There's no other option if Bastet's powers aren't back yet," he informed the others.  
  
Ishizu shook the cat gently in her arms, but upon receiving no response, she looked back up at Yugi and shook her head. He hung his head.  
  
"Then I guess we'll just have to sleep out her," Yugi said sadly, looking at the grainy ground.  
  
Joey lay down on the sand, only to jump back up again.  
  
"Forget it man, I can't sleep like this!" he cried angrily, brushing his arms and legs off.  
  
Priest Seto looked down at his reincarnate.  
  
"Why don't you use some of that power to bring them to the local city?" he asked, pointing down at Seto.  
  
"Don't be silly, I can't control anything like that," Seto scoffed, shifting Mokuba's limp body around in his arms. "They'd probably end up at the North Pole if I did that."  
  
Priest Seto shrugged, but Yugi's eyes lit up.  
  
"Yeah, Kaiba," he said happily, rushing up to him. "Why not you use your powers to get us to a hotel?"  
  
Priest Seto smiled.  
  
"At least someone thinks my ideas are good," he replied.  
  
Seto looked nervous, which was strange for him, as he was usually calm and collected.  
  
"If you concentrate real hard, I'm sure you can do it," Ishizu said reassuringly.  
  
"I'll even use the puzzle's magic to help you out," Yugi offered, and the puzzle began to glow.  
  
Seto took a deep breath.  
  
"All right then," he said, everyone crowding around him, even the spirit of priest Seto.  
  
He closed his eyes and concentrated, focusing on what he imagined an Egyptian village to look like, in modern times, he added into his thoughts, not wanting to accidentally send them back 2000 years.  
  
A blue light engulfed everyone again, just as it had when Anubis and Seto had transported, and the others with Bastet. In a flash of light, the group of teenagers, Bastet, and the spirit disappeared.  
  
"You better have done this right, Kaiba," Seto could hear Joey's annoying voice call, echoing through wherever they were passing through, but he continued to think about the village.  
  
A moment later, they reappeared in what appeared to be an Egyptian city. Tea stepped away from the group, looking around.  
  
"You know?" she asked happily, as a bright light shone behind her. "I think we made it!"  
  
Seto nodded, relieved, but then saw what the light was.  
  
"GET OUT OF THE WAY!" he yelled at Tea, who turned around to see a car coming towards her.   
  
She quickly turned around and got her foot stuck, tripping onto the path where some people were walking by. They scattered as she fell face down into the hard dirt.  
  
They had traveled to a modern Egyptian city, only their location was in the middle of a road.  
  
The gang scrambled over to the side of the road, letting the two cars ride by. They were rather old-fashioned looking cars, which sent shivers down Yugi's spine.  
  
"Does anyone know the date?" Seto asked, looking around at the townspeople who were walking swiftly by the odd-looking new comers.  
  
Priest Seto shrugged.  
  
"That's a good question," he said. "I never asked what era you lived in."  
  
Seto ignored this comment.  
  
"Mommy! Look! There's some magicians!" she cried, pointing over at the gang as Tea hurried across the roadway and over to the rest of the gang.  
  
"Don't point, Lila, now come along," A woman replied, tugging her child's hand.  
  
"Wait!" Tristan cried, running after the woman. "Please, can you tell me the date?"  
  
The woman raised an eyebrow.  
  
  
  
"It's the 6th of August, why?" she asked suspiciously.  
  
"No, no, I mean the year," Tristan replied nervously, scratching his head embarrassedly.  
  
"2003," the woman replied, looking down at Tristan as if he were some sort of strange maniac. "Now if you'll excuse me."  
  
The woman huffed away, dragging her daughter along with her.  
  
"That went smoothly," Joey said sarcastically, stifling a yawn.  
  
Tristan turned around, angrily.   
  
"Well at least we got an answer," he snapped.  
  
Tea yawned.  
  
"Can we just find a hotel or something?" she asked wearily.  
  
Lishito nodded.  
  
"I have been to this village once before," he said, turning. "Follow me."  
  
********  
  
Serenity walked outside Joey's house, looking out into the dark night. She had called everyone, and only Duke and Amber were at their own home. They both had no idea where Yugi, Joey, or any of the others could have gone.  
  
"Onichan," she whispered, looking up at the moon. "Where are you?"  
  
*******  
  
An hour later, the gang had made their way to a hotel, that, surprisingly, looked quite similar to one that they would have found back in Domino. Seto and Mokuba would be sharing a room, Tea and Ishizu, Malik, Lishito, Taerro, and Bakura, and Yugi, Joey, and Tristan.  
  
(Taerro and Bakura were supposed to share a bed, but when neither could decide how the situation would work out so that they'd both be comfortable, Bakura agreed to take the floor.)  
  
Yugi argued with Joey and Tristan, reminding them of the last time they spent the night in a hotel, and finally got them to let him have a bed to himself, and Tristan and Joey had to put up with sharing.  
  
Tea and Ishizu had no problems, as there were only two beds and two people to begin with.  
  
As Ishizu began to make a small bed for Bastet, Tea put her hand on her shoulder.  
  
"Bastet can sleep with me, if you think that's ok," Tea offered.  
  
Ishizu smiled.  
  
"That would be nice, I'm sure," she replied, handing the sleeping cat to her.  
  
Tea petted Bastet and put her on the edge of her pillow, and then got in bed herself.  
  
"You know, I know Bastet is really a goddess, but I've always liked cats," Tea said, covering up.  
  
Ishizu nodded.  
  
"Cats are mysterious," she replied simply.  
  
Tea patted Bastet once more, as Ishizu turned out the lights, then she rolled over and stared out the window. Hopefully, she thought, Bastet's powers would return soon.  
  
Hopefully, Anubis wouldn't find the coin before morning, and hopefully, everyone would be all right.  
  
*******  
  
Seto tucked Mokuba, who was still sound asleep, into bed. Then, got into the bed beside his brother's, tiredly.  
  
He shut off the lamp that was on the nightstand beside the bed, and rolled over to try to get some rest, but several things were preventing him from achieving that goal.  
  
First of all, the nagging thought of guilt that he ought to be stopping Anubis instead of sleeping kept him awake. After all, he WAS the most capable of tackling Anubis, as he had powers. (Even though, he reminded himself, he could barely use them)  
  
The second thing that kept him awake was the feeling of being watched. Everyone few minutes he'd look up again to see Priest Seto floating around above him, watching he and Mokuba sleep.   
  
The third time this happened, Seto sat up in bed and rubbed his eyes.  
  
"Do you mind?" he asked the priest, grumpily.  
  
Priest Seto raised his eyebrows.  
  
"Mind what?" he replied.  
  
"Watching me! I can't sleep like that," Seto replied, irritated. "Can't you go in the closet or something?"  
  
"I never liked being watched either," Priest Seto said out loud, remembering days back in Ancient Egypt.  
  
"Then you ought to understand how I feel and let me sleep in peace," Seto said grumpily.  
  
Priest Seto sighed.  
  
"Fine," he snapped, floating over to the door, and going straight through it and into the hallway.  
  
Seto sighed, and flopped back down on his pillow, the nagging feeling coming back to him once more.  
  
*********  
  
Priest Seto floated down the hallway and into another room. Inside, Lishito, Malik, Bakura, and Taerro were sitting around discussing something.  
  
"I suppose there is one advantage to being invisible to nearly everyone," Priest Seto sighed, sitting down on the end of Lishito's bed. "You can easily eavesdrop on other people's conversations."  
  
"So tell us again, Bakura," Malik said slowly to a worried-looking Bakura.  
  
Bakura held up a glowing Millennium Ring. Priest Seto narrowed his eyes at the sight of the boy and the ring. The combo reminded him of the evil Bakura he had once known, and had died at the hands of.  
  
"I'm scared," Bakura said honestly, in a quiet voice. "I think that when that cat bit me, it..."  
  
"...gave you some of its powers," Malik filled in, nodding. "The same thing happened to the older Kaiba."  
  
Bakura frowned down at it.  
  
"Ever since, the ring has been pointing to strange things...not just Millennium Items," Bakura continued.  
  
Lishito cocked his head.  
  
  
  
"Like what?" He inquired.  
  
Bakura sighed.  
  
"The cat," he replied.  
  
Taerro's eyes lit up behind his glasses.  
  
"If your ring can lead you to the cat, then maybe it can also lead you to something like Anubis!" he exclaimed, jumping up.  
  
Bakura nodded again.  
  
"That's what I've been thinking," he replied.  
  
Malik looked out the window.  
  
"Well, tomorrow we'll have to tell this to the others," he said to Bakura, reaching over to turn out the lights. "But for now, let's rest."  
  
Bakura nodded, and hopped down to his makeshift sleeping bag that he and the others had put together.  
  
Priest Seto floated up to the ceiling, staring down at Bakura curiously.  
  
"That boy...he seems so completely different from the evil tomb robber, while Seto Kaiba is almost an exact copy of myself," Priest Seto thought to himself as he watched the boy.  
  
"But he is undoubtedly the reincarnate," he continued to himself.  
  
Suddenly, Bakura's eyes flashed open and he sat up in bed. The Millennium Ring was glowing, and two of the five pointers were pointing in the left direction, toward the door.  
  
Bakura stood up and walked over to the door after slipping on his shoes and coat. He was almost there, when a voice from behind him made him stop.  
  
"If you're going looking for Anubis, Bakura, I'm coming with you," Taerro said from behind him, causing Bakura to jump a foot and turn around, shaking.  
  
  
  
"Taerro!" he gasped, breathing a sigh of relief.  
  
Taerro looked serious, the light from the window glaring off of his glasses.  
  
"I'm serious, Bakura, that's what you're up doing, right?" he asked, looking down at the ring.  
  
Bakura gulped, and nodded.  
  
"Thought so," Taerro said, smiling a smile of satisfaction. "Well, if you're going, so am I. With your powers and my knowledge, we should be okay. Besides, I'm not letting you go alone."  
  
Bakura smiled a small grin.  
  
"Thanks Taerro," he said, opening the door. "You're a real friend."  
  
*********  
  
  
  
Priest Seto's eyes widened.  
  
"No don't!" he cried, but realized it was useless.  
  
The only three who could hear him were Seto, the Pharaoh, and Anubis, only one of which was anywhere nearby.  
  
Priest Seto flew through the wall and back into Seto and Mokuba's room.  
  
"Wake up!" Priest Seto yelled, flying down to Seto to make himself more well heard.  
  
He tried to shake Seto's shoulders, but he went right through him.  
  
"GET UP!" he yelled, causing Seto to jerk and awake with a start.  
  
"What is it?" he demanded groggily, squinting over at the time.  
  
"Bakura and the boy with black hair have gone after Anubis," he explained in a hurry. "But they don't know what they're getting into!"  
  
********  
  
End of Chapter 10  
  
Review, please and come back Thursday (tomorrow) or Friday for Chapter 11!  
  
"Yes! Yes! Loads of action coming up!" ^_~ 


	11. Chapter 11: Traps and Pitfalls

Chapter 11: Traps and Pitfalls  
  
Notes: Silver and Golden: First of all, thanks for the facts about Ra. I really didn't know much about him, and I'd wanted to use him at some point.  
  
Also, I'm glad you like Priest Seto, thought Seto doesn't seem to very much. ^_~  
  
"Yeah...and as for him returning...I don't know. I don't even know what SK is going to do with him in this story."  
  
Ha ha! Yes, only I know all, as I'M the main authoress. ^_^  
  
"-_- Ha ha. Well, if you're not going to tell us, then let's at least get on with the story."  
  
Ok!  
  
********  
  
Chapter 11: Traps and Pitfalls  
  
"What?" Seto asked getting out of bed and staring at the priest.  
  
"Those boys are going out to look for Anubis," Priest Seto repeated.  
  
"How stupid can you get," Seto said aloud, though inside, he was curious.  
  
Bakura and Taerro? What sorts of powers could they have against Anubis? He wondered.   
  
  
  
"All right, fine," Seto replied, putting his coat back on. "I'll go after them."  
  
Inwardly, though, he was almost grateful for this opportunity. After he finished getting ready, he walked over to the door.  
  
"Aren't you going to wake him up and tell him where you're going?" Priest Seto asked, pointing down at Mokuba.  
  
Seto shook his head.  
  
"No," he replied. "There's no need to. He'll just want to come along, and I don't want him to."  
  
"But..." Priest Seto began to reply. "What if you don't come back?"  
  
Seto whirled around.  
  
"I'm NOT going to die," he snapped, frowning.  
  
"You can't be sure," Priest Seto replied solemnly. "I didn't think I would die when I did."  
  
Seto ignored this, but now another fear entered his mind. Not so much the fear of dying. That was always possible when dealing with mad evil spirits. No, it was more the fear of leaving Mokuba alone.  
  
He pushed the thought out of his mind as he walked over to Mokuba's bed, and pulled the covers up over him gently.  
  
"I'll be back soon," Seto promised, turning, and walking over to the door, Priest Seto behind him.  
  
*********  
  
"How long do you think it will take to find Anubis?" Taerro asked, as he and Bakura walked out through the desert, guided by the Millennium Ring.  
  
Bakura shrugged.  
  
"I don't know," he replied, blinking hard to keep his eyes from shutting.  
  
Taerro reached into his mini-backpack and pulled two things out.  
  
"Well, at least I remembered to bring water," he replied.  
  
Bakura sighed with relief.  
  
"That's good," he said. "Thanks." He added gratefully.  
  
Taerro winked.  
  
"You should never go out in the desert without something to drink," Taerro replied. "Even if you're chasing an ancient Egyptian god."  
  
Bakura giggled a little.  
  
*********  
  
Yugi tossed around in his sleep, dreaming of Anubis and the second coin...worrying. He awoke with a start, sweat dripping down his forehead and panting.  
  
  
  
He sighed and fell back on the stiff hotel pillow.  
  
"Maybe we should have kept looking for Anubis instead of looking for a hotel," he said sadly to himself.  
  
"Aibou," Yami said, appearing spiritually beside him.  
  
Yugi looked up.  
  
"Hm?" he asked, sitting up and rubbing his eyes.  
  
"I sense that others have had our same feelings," Yami replied solemnly.  
  
It took a moment for Yami's meaning to penetrate Yugi's still sleeping brain.  
  
"You think some of the others have gone out LOOKING for Anubis?!" Yugi cried, jumping out of bed.  
  
Yami nodded.  
  
"Ah," he replied.  
  
Yugi stumbled over to the door.  
  
"No," he whispered to himself, flinging it open and bursting into the hallway.  
  
"Who do you think left?" Yugi asked Yami, biting his lip as he tried to remember which doors belong to his friends.  
  
Yami closed his eyes for a moment, then opened them again.  
  
"Bakura and Taerro," he said. "And Kaiba."  
  
Yugi sighed, then looked ahead boldly.  
  
"Well, we're going after them," Yugi said, hurrying back into his room and getting dressed before running down the hallway.  
  
********  
  
Seto walked along the streets, thinking. How was he going to be able to track two boys who had left long before he? How was he going to be able to fight Anubis if he didn't know how to use the powers he possessed? And Priest Seto's words kept floating into his head...  
  
"You can't be sure. I didn't think I would die when I did..."  
  
Seto shook his head, trying to shake these thoughts out, and concentrate on the matter at hand.  
  
"Why don't you try using those powers again?" Priest Seto asked from over Seto's head.  
  
Seto frowned.  
  
"I don't think so," he replied.  
  
"Why not? As long as you have it why not use it?" Priest Seto inquired. "It could help you."  
  
"It could also hurt me," Seto replied, narrowing his eyes. "I'm sure you'd feel the same way if you were in my position."  
  
Priest Seto nodded.  
  
"Hm..." he thought, remembering a similar position he had been in.  
  
True, he didn't use the powers just because they were there. He didn't use them until he needed them desperately.  
  
"I guess you're right," he replied finally.  
  
Seto didn't reply.  
  
********  
  
Duke was looking up at the stars, standing out on the deck outside his house. Behind him, he heard the noise of Amber walking out after him.  
  
"I'm getting kind of worried," she said honestly to him, walking over and standing next to him. "Where are Yugi and the others? The only one left is Serenity, who just said Joey ran out the door this afternoon without a word except that he was going somewhere."  
  
Duke nodded.  
  
"Yeah...it isn't like Yugi to just leave without telling anyone," he agreed, sighing.  
  
"Do you think it could have had something to do with that cat?" Amber inquired.  
  
Duke nodded.  
  
"Probably," he replied. "I just wish there was something we could do about it."  
  
Amber sighed.  
  
"Me too," she agreed.  
  
********  
  
Bakura and Taerro trudged along, side by side, still following the Millennium Ring's glowing pointers.  
  
"Hey!" Taerro cried, squinting into the darkness. "Up ahead, look!"  
  
Bakura looked up and saw what Taerro was pointing at. There was some sort of temple only a few minutes away.  
  
"Yes!" Bakura cheered, when he saw the Millennium Ring was also pointing at this temple.  
  
"Looks like we've found the spot, right?" Taerro asked happily, as the two broke into a run and hurried up toward the temple.  
  
********  
  
Yugi ran down the streets of the Egyptian city they were in, looking around frantically for some sign of his friends.  
  
"Excuse me?" he asked a man who had been walking by. "Can you tell me if you saw two boys, one with glasses and black hair, and another with white hair, walking by?"  
  
The man nodded.  
  
"I did. They were headed out toward the desert," he replied sternly. "But the desert ain't no place for young boys at night."  
  
Yugi nodded.  
  
"I know!" he replied, running the path the man had pointed him toward. "I just hope I can get to them before they find Anubis..." Yugi thought to himself.  
  
"Yes," Yami agreed.  
  
********  
  
Seto sighed and squinted out into the desert. It seemed that there was nothing around at all, and no sign of Taerro or Bakura.  
  
Seto stopped, and looked around again. He was getting no where anytime fast...  
  
  
  
"Deciding to use those powers?" Priest Seto inquired, but Seto ignored him.  
  
He shut his eyes tightly and concentrated hard, just as he had before. A moment later, after feeling a whoosh of air, Seto opened his eyes to find himself, and Priest Seto's spirit, inside an ancient building of some sort.  
  
"What the..." he muttered, looking around. It was almost as if he had been transported inside some sort of pyramid.  
  
"You've brought us inside a tomb?" Priest Seto asked, disbelieving.  
  
"I wanted to be brought to where Anubis is, so if this is where he is, then yes, I wanted to bring us to a tomb," Seto replied.  
  
Priest Seto looked around nervously.  
  
"You weren't allowed in pyramids back when I was alive," he pointed out as Seto began walking down a narrow corridor.  
  
"Half of the pyramids that are still standing weren't built yet in your day," Seto replied, trying to think.  
  
  
  
There was a dull crash in the distance.  
  
Seto's ears perked.  
  
"Come on!" he ordered at Priest Seto, though afterwards, he wondered why he even bothered. Priest Seto was ALWAYS going to follow him around anyway.  
  
He ran down the corridor toward the source of the sound.  
  
*******  
  
Taerro and Bakura entered the strange white-colored temple, looking around.  
  
"This is an odd place, but the Millennium Ring is pointing in here, so Anubis must be close by," Bakura explained, walking forward.  
  
There was a rustle in the darkness, causing both Taerro and Bakura to stop in their tracks.  
  
"What...what was that?" Taerro asked nervously.  
  
Bakura shook his head.  
  
"I...I don't know," he replied, starting to sweat.  
  
Taerro walked forward a few steps.  
  
"Maybe...maybe it's Anubis," he suggested, turning around and facing Bakura.  
  
  
  
There was a stomp from behind him and Bakura gasped.  
  
"What is it?!" Taerro cried, turning around, and gasping as well.  
  
Standing before them was a man with a strange, bird-like head with a long beak, and clawed hands.  
  
"What is that!?" Bakura cried as Taerro ran back over to him.  
  
Taerro gripped Bakura's shoulder nervously.  
  
"It...it's Thoth!" he cried.  
  
*********  
  
Meanwhile, Seto and Priest Seto ran into a room down a sloping corridor to see none other than Anubis, hunched over what appeared to be a pool of water in the middle of the floor.  
  
Seto gasped when he realized what was happening.  
  
  
  
"The puddle of water!" he cried, and Anubis didn't even bother to turn around.  
  
He was too busy searching around in the puddle.  
  
  
  
"That's where the coin is!" he hissed at Priest Seto. "He can't get it!"  
  
Suddenly, there was a splash and Anubis grinned.  
  
"Yes..." he whispered, holding up something shiny and silver. "It's finally MINE!"  
  
"No!" Seto cried, and Anubis whirled around to see Seto, and Priest Seto, standing there.  
  
He grinned.  
  
"Well now, time to test my new powers for the first time," he said with a large, razor-teeth grin. "By destroying you!"  
  
The two coins lit up and suddenly, the room started to fill with some sort of cloudy, brown smoke.  
  
Seto choked as he tried to find his way through the smoke. There was an explosion, as Anubis destroyed part of the wall to create an exit for himself.  
  
"Farewell!" he called back to Seto, who was coughing as he tried to find the exit as well.  
  
  
  
"What's going on?" Priest Seto asked, looking around. (Of course, a spirit isn't going to be affected by the smoke)  
  
Seto coughed again.  
  
"Can't...breathe..." he gasped, falling to his knees.  
  
"Get up!" Priest Seto yelled.  
  
Seto's eyes drifted shut and his body fell limply to the ground.  
  
"No! Wake up!" Priest Seto cried, wishing he could do more than just yell at him.  
  
The smoke grew thicker around the two, and the clock kept ticking...  
  
*******  
  
End of Chapter 11  
  
Poor Seto!  
  
"Yeah...I hope that priest figures out something quick!"  
  
Review! And next chapter up tomorrow or Saturday! 


	12. Chapter 12: To Come to Understand

Chapter 12: To Come to Understand  
  
Notes: Thanks for reviewing, everyone! And you guess right again, Golden and Silver, and Lady of the Thread too. Boy, you are good at this!  
  
"They sure are. But I figured out it out!! You just didn't let me participate!"  
  
Uh...right. Oh, and the title chapter, can anyone guess what this means? ^_~  
  
Anyway, on with Chapter 12!  
  
"Oo, and I gotta say another NOT YAOI, just in case a rescue in this chapter is misinterpreted. ^_~"  
  
********  
  
Chapter 12: To Come to Understand  
  
Priest Seto looked around wildly for something to do, but as a spirit who couldn't touch or lift anything. The room was beginning to get so foggy, he could barely make out Seto's lifeless form on the floor.  
  
"What can I do?!" he yelled, thinking quickly.  
  
How could a spirit help a person? Then his eyes lit up. The Pharaoh was able to live inside of his reincarnate, and control his actions while doing so. If he could do it...maybe the priest could as well!  
  
Priest Seto's spirit flew down and into Seto's body, possessing him. Priest Seto stood up, his vision foggy in the body, coughing on the smoke.  
  
"Must...get...out," he choked, grateful he wasn't unconscious as well.  
  
He staggered toward the hole in the wall that Anubis had left, and walked out into the night air, and away from the smoke. He collapsed on the ground, and freed his spirit from Seto's body.  
  
"Whew," he sighed, looking down at Seto, whose breathing was slow and raggedy. "Now wake up!" he called down to Seto, who didn't reply.  
  
He sighed, and floated up in the air, waiting for Seto to revive.  
  
*********  
  
"What do you want with us?" Bakura managed to get the courage to speak up.  
  
Thoth looked over at them with his beady eyes.  
  
"You have trespassed on our sacred grounds," he said sternly, looking over at the two boys. "Now you must be punished."  
  
"We're only looking for Anubis!" Bakura cried, hoping to get on their good side.  
  
Thoth shook his head.  
  
"You have no right to be here, humans," he replied, his voice solemn. "So now, a punishment must ensue."  
  
Taerro turned to Bakura, sweating.  
  
"Why isn't Anubis here?" Bakura hissed, nervously.  
  
A stream of sweat dripped down Taerro's cheek as he leaned over to whisper in Bakura's ear.  
  
"Bakura, your ring tracks ANY god or goddess," he whispered frantically. "Instead of finding Anubis, you just found a whole troop of other ones!"  
  
********  
  
Seto moaned, coughing from the smoke, and his eyes fluttered open to see Priest Seto hovering above him.  
  
"Wha...what happened?" he asked, sitting up and coughing again.  
  
"The smoke, the tomb, Anubis,...bringing back any memories?" Priest Seto replied casually.  
  
Seto nodded slowly.  
  
"Yes...now I remember," he said, looking around at the hole in the wall. "I passed out...how did I end up out here?"  
  
He looked peculiarly up at the priest.  
  
"I borrowed your body and got you to safety," he replied.  
  
Seto nodded, then stood up, brushing off his sandy clothes.  
  
"But why?" he asked after a few moments of silence. "Why did you save my life?"  
  
Priest Seto turned away from him. He was silent for a minute, in which Seto continued to stare at him.  
  
"I couldn't let you leave that boy," he replied softly at last.  
  
"Hm?" Seto asked, straining his ears to hear better.  
  
"I couldn't let you die and leave him alone...like I did all those years ago..." he said, trailing off.  
  
Seto raised an eyebrow.  
  
This was the last answer he'd expected to hear from the priest. What was he even talking about?  
  
"What do you mean, "like you did"?" Seto asked, walking forward a few steps toward him.  
  
Priest Seto sighed.  
  
"I would have done anything to have prevented him from watching the battle that fateful day," he said sadly. "When I died, I left a little boy friendless, and all alone; a boy very much like your little brother. He was lucky enough to find a caring soul to watch over him, but I couldn't let destiny repeat itself all over again."  
  
Seto swallowed. So this was why the priest had taken such an interest in Mokuba, and why he was so curious about his relation to Seto. He had been a friend of the priest's in the ancient times...  
  
Just as Seto began to understand it all, he shook his head quickly.  
  
  
  
No! A stubborn voice in his head screamed. There is no destiny! You can't believe such a thing!  
  
"I don't believe in destiny," Seto replied in a cold voice. "I've beaten what destiny has said before. Ishizu said I would lose in a battle with her, but I won instead. There's no determined fate."  
  
Priest Seto raised an eyebrow, and laughed.  
  
Seto stared at him.  
  
"What's so funny?" he asked, slightly angry and slightly confused.  
  
  
  
Priest Seto stopped laughing and looked down at Seto.  
  
"What's funny is that you're exactly like I," he replied, still smiling. "You're too stubborn to see the truth in front of you."  
  
Seto was quiet.  
  
"How can you deny the existence of magic and such if I'm right in front of you?" he continued.  
  
"Perhaps you're an illusion," Seto said with the hint of a smile on his face.  
  
"I don't think so," Priest Seto replied. "But whether destiny exists or not, I wasn't about to see that boy heartbroken again."  
  
Seto walked past the priest.  
  
"Let's keep going," he replied. "We've probably lost Bakura and Taerro by now, and Anubis has the second coin, meaning your country is in danger."  
  
Priest Seto nodded.  
  
"Right," he replied, floating after Seto.  
  
The two hurried through the desert together, and away from the temple.  
  
  
  
"Thank you," Seto said softly, almost to himself, as the two walked along, but Priest Seto heard him, and smiled.  
  
*********  
  
Yugi stopped in the middle of the silent desert, panting for breath.  
  
"Taerro!" he called, cupping his hands together and yelling. "Bakura! Kaiba? Anyone!" he cried, hoping for some sign that his friends were all right.  
  
Yami appeared beside him.  
  
"Any sign of them Yugi?" he asked, thought from the saddened expression on Yugi's face, he already could tell the answer.  
  
Yugi shook his head sadly.  
  
"No," he said glumly. "And I'm getting worried about them. What if they met up with Anubis?"  
  
Yami sighed.  
  
"I don't really want to think about that," Yami replied, looking into the distance. "We must keep going."  
  
Yugi nodded, and stood up straight again, and took off into the desert.  
  
However, there was something black on the horizon, heading straight toward him as well...  
  
********  
  
Back at the hotel, Malik and Lishito were sound asleep in their room, as were Ishizu and Tea. Joey and Tristan were asleep, although both were in very uncomfortable positions, both choosing to sleep on the very end of the bed, so they would stop hitting each other during the night.  
  
Mokuba tossed around in his sleep for a moment, then opened his eyes.  
  
He was facing the window outside, and he gasped, before remembering where he was.  
  
"Oh," he sighed, sitting up in bed. "I forgot we were in Egypt," he said aloud.  
  
"Niisama?" he asked, looking over at his brother's bed, and gasping when he saw that he wasn't there.  
  
He jumped up and ran over to the bed, worried.  
  
  
  
"NIISAMA!" he cried.  
  
********  
  
"Niisama!"  
  
The words echoed into even Tea and Ishizu's room, although neither awoke. However, Bastet, who was curled up on the pillow next to Tea's head stirred for the first time since the transportation of the gang to Egypt.  
  
Her yellow eyes opened and she stood up, shakily.  
  
"Ohh," she moaned softly, shaking her fur out and looking around.  
  
When she found herself unfamiliar with the surroundings, she probed into Tea's mind to find out what she had missed during her unconciousness.  
  
"Ah...the Egyptian Hotel," she muttered, walking over to the door and using her powers to walk through it.  
  
"So...everyone is safe?" she wondered, looking around the empty, dark, and silent hallway. "But Anubis is going for the second coin. I need to go stop him!"  
  
She turned to go down the hallway, when suddenly, a bedroom door flew open and Mokuba ran out into the hallway.  
  
"Niisama?!" he cried, looking around.  
  
He ran forward, down the dark hallway, not noticing Bastet until the last minute and tripping over her. He fell over the cat and onto the floor, Bastet running out from under him at the last minute.  
  
"Ohhh," he moaned, rubbing his head gently.  
  
He sat up and looked at what he had tripped over, and was shocked to see Bastet standing in the hallway.  
  
"Bastet?" he asked, blinking, and leaning toward her. "So you're ok now?" he asked.  
  
Since a black cat blended so well in a dark hallway, Mokuba only saw two slits of yellow eyes bounce up and down, indicating a nod.  
  
"Have your powers come back?" he asked.  
  
"Almost, but not quite completely," she replied, walking toward the stairs. "Anubis has the last coin." She said sadly.  
  
Mokuba gasped.  
  
"Bastet, where's my niisama?" he asked, hurriedly. "When I woke up he wasn't there."  
  
Bastet looked startled for a moment, then closed her eyes and meditated. A minute later, she opened them again.  
  
  
  
"Your brother, the spirit, Yugi, and two of the smaller boys have left in search of Anubis," Bastet informed him.  
  
"No!" Mokuba whispered. "I don't want niisama to get hurt!"  
  
Bastet nodded.  
  
"I will go after them," she said simply, turning to walk away with a swish of her slender tail.  
  
  
  
"Wait!" Mokuba cried. "What do I do?"  
  
Bastet turned her yellow eyes to him again.  
  
"Stay here," she replied. "You will be safe here."  
  
"But I want to help!"  
  
Bastet glared at him.  
  
"The best way for you to help is to not come along," she said with a hiss. "If you got captured, it would only put more lives in danger."  
  
Mokuba nodded slowly.  
  
"Be careful Bastet!" he called after her, as she slinked away.  
  
  
  
********  
  
"What kind of punishment did you have in mind for us?" Bakura asked, meekly.  
  
Thoth looked down at the scroll he was holding in his hands.  
  
"You are mortals, right?" he asked suspiciously.  
  
Bakura and Taerro nodded.  
  
"As mortal as you can get," Taerro kidded, Bakura wondering how he could act so calm.  
  
"Fine then," Horus replied, putting away the scroll. "You are familiar with the way the people settle arguments?"  
  
Taerro blinked.  
  
"The people?" he asked curiously.  
  
Bakura backed away.  
  
"Duel?" he asked meekly.  
  
Horus looked up.  
  
"Yes, duel," he replied.  
  
The Millennium Ring suddenly glowed brightly and Taerro had to shield his eyes from it.  
  
"What is this?!" Horus cried, as the light died down and Bakura laughed.  
  
"This is an ancient being, who's waiting to duel!" Yami Bakura said, laughing a high-pitched laugh.  
  
"Yikes! Bakura!" Taerro cried.  
  
Yami Bakura turned his face toward Taerro.  
  
"Not Bakura," he hissed happily, pulling Bakura's deck out of his pocket. "The being of the Millennium Ring..."  
  
*******  
  
End of Chapter 12  
  
Good? What did you think? Give us a review and let us know!  
  
"Yeah! And next chapter up tomorrow or Tuesday. Sorry for the lateness of this chapter! ^_~" 


	13. Chapter 13: Confrontation

Chapter 13: Confrontation  
  
Notes: ~~ = flashback again  
  
And I accidentally called Thoth "Horus" twice in the last chapter. Sorry! It's still Thoth! Horus hasn't appeared.  
  
"Yet" ^_~  
  
*******  
  
Chapter 13: Confrontation  
  
"Uh oh..." Taerro muttered, backing away from Yami Bakura.  
  
"Ah...Taerro," he said in an evilly happy voice. "I do believe you remember me, right?"  
  
Taerro swallowed. He remembered...  
  
~~Yami Taerro had been sneaking around near Domino Station when Yami Bakura and Yami Yugi, working together, had appeared suddenly. The two both used powerful Millennium Item-magic to destroy the evil spirit inside of Taerro's body.  
  
Taerro, weakened from all the attacks, had looked up from the ground at Yugi, who looked slightly different, and the evil Bakura, his eyes narrow and a wide, evil smile.   
  
"And farewell to you, spirit," he snapped down at Taerro, obviously talking to the Yami Taerro, who was no longer there.  
  
"That's enough, Yami Bakura," Yami Yugi snapped, letting the normal Yugi out, who immediately ran over to Taerro's side.  
  
"Taerro! Are you ok?" he asked, bending down next to him.  
  
"He's fine," Yami Bakura snapped, turning away. "The job has ended, as well as the partnership."  
  
Yugi stood up and looked at Yami Bakura.  
  
  
  
"That may be, but thank you for all your help," Yugi said kindly. "If you ever..."  
  
"Good bye," Yami Bakura snapped, and regular Bakura took over.  
  
"Huh? What...?" he asked, looking around.  
  
"What's going on?" Taerro asked, standing up, his head spinning.  
  
  
  
Yugi smiled.  
  
"Eh...just another little encounter with evil spirits, that's all," he said with an embarrassed smile.~~  
  
"What are you doing with Bakura this time?" Taerro snapped.  
  
Yami Bakura put on an innocent (well, as innocent as the evil spirit could get) smile.  
  
"Protecting my host, what else?" he asked, looking over at Thoth with a frown.  
  
"You want to duel, eh?" he asked, using the powers of the ring to create a duel disc. "Fine. You duel the old way, I'll duel with cards. Either way, it's still a Shadow Duel, and the loser is buried in darkness."  
  
Thoth nodded a blank nod.  
  
"Fine," he replied, five stone tablets, the picture facing Thoth, appeared in front of him. "You may take the honor of first move."  
  
Yami Bakura grinned.  
  
"Just watch, Taerro," Yami Bakura snapped over at him, causing Taerro to flinch. "Watch the demise of this bird-god."  
  
"Eh...it's actually an ibis," Taerro corrected meekly.  
  
"Whatever!" Yami Bakura snapped. "To me, it's just another opponent whose end is merely moments away."  
  
Taerro gulped.  
  
*********  
  
Malik yawned and pulled open the door to his bedroom.  
  
"What's going on out here?" he asked wearily, rubbing his eyes and peering out into the hallway.  
  
Mokuba looked up at he and Lishito, who was also coming to the door.  
  
"Bastet just went out to look for Yugi, niisama, Bakura, and Taerro and Anubis who has the last coin!" Mokuba cried.  
  
Malik blinked.  
  
"Huh?" he asked, disbelieving.  
  
Lishito turned around and gasped.  
  
"It is true. Bakura and Taerro are not here," Lishito informed Malik.  
  
Malik narrowed his eyes.  
  
  
  
"Why did they leave..." He began, then he gasped.  
  
"Oh no! It's because Bakura can track gods and goddesses with the ring of his!" Malik exclaimed.  
  
Mokuba raised an eyebrow.  
  
"Huh?" he asked.  
  
********  
  
Tea rolled over in her bed, and he eyes snapped open with a start. She sat up, looking around.   
  
"Bastet?" she asked, looking for the cat on the bed. "Bastet?!"  
  
Tea jumped up out of her bed and pulled the covers off.  
  
"Where did she go?" she wondered, starting to panic.  
  
"Ishizu," she said softly, turning around and shaking her gently. "Wake up! Bastet is missing!"  
  
Ishizu's eyes fluttered open and she looked up at Tea.  
  
"Miss Tea..." she asked, squinting to focus on her. "What is wrong?"  
  
"Bastet's gone!" Tea cried.  
  
Ishizu sat up.   
  
"Gone?" she asked, looking over at Tea's empty bed. "Did she leave or did someone take her?"  
  
Tea shrugged, frustrated.  
  
"I don't know!" she cried.  
  
There was a pound on their door that made both girls jump. Ishizu sighed and smiled.  
  
"There is no need to worry," she said, walking toward the door. "I think it is only one of our friends."  
  
She grasped the handle and pulled the door open, to find Malik, Mokuba, and Lishito at the door.  
  
"Lishito? Malik?" Ishizu asked. "What's wrong?"  
  
"We need to talk, neesan," Malik said seriously.  
  
********  
  
"My turn!" Yami Bakura declared, picking a card, and smiling at it. "Ah...I play this one, the Portrait's Secret in attack mode!" he declared, and a large picture with a spirit hanging out appeared in front of him.  
  
"This turn is over!" he called over to Thoth, who was examining the stones in front of him.  
  
"Fine then," Thoth declared as one more stone appeared in front of him as his new card, as if he had drawn. "I play Asura Priest in attack mode."  
  
A green-faced monster appeared in front of his, his many arms each holding a long sword. (1700 ATK)  
  
"This spiritual monster is allowed to attack all of your monsters on the field at the same time," Thoth explained. "Go now! Attack the portrait!"  
  
The Asura Priest tossed several of his swords at the portrait, slashing through it, and causing it to be destroyed. Yami Bakura's life point count on the counter of his duel disc dropped to 3500.  
  
"My turn!" Yami Bakura snapped, preparing to draw, but Thoth held up a hand to stop him.  
  
  
  
"No, no, mortal, I am now going to play Card Destruction," Thoth said, and all of his stone crumbled to bits, and were replaced by new ones.  
  
In a similar way, Yami Bakura discarding his hand, picking 5 new cards.  
  
"My turn NOW?!" he asked.  
  
Thoth shook his head.  
  
"I am aware that spirit monsters must return to their owner's hands at the end of the turn, so I will now special summon this monster, The Rock Spirit, by removing one of my earth monsters from the grave." Thoth said calmly, as a new monster appeared on the field.  
  
"Now there will be something to protect my life points when the spirit returns to my hand," Thoth explained as the Asura Priest disappeared. "My turn is now over."  
  
Yami Bakura hissed something under his breath as his drew his next card.  
  
"I don't see his strategy, not that I care," Yami Bakura muttered to himself. "I'll just finish him quickly, with this one," he smiled at a trap card as he played it face down.  
  
"I also play one monster in defense mode," he said with a smirk. "Your move, bird."  
  
Taerro bit his lip.  
  
"This guy is overly confident, no, strike that, just downright cocky!" he thought frantically. "I know this type of strategy that Thoth uses, and it isn't going to be pretty."  
  
"Be careful!" Taerro yelled at Yami Bakura.  
  
"I don't need your advice, mortal," Yami Bakura snapped at him. "I know exactly what I'm doing!"  
  
Taerro sighed.  
  
Thoth smiled.  
  
"I'm sure you do," he muttered to himself.  
  
*********  
  
Yugi squinted into the distance at the black shape hurtling toward him.  
  
"Yami..." he asked nervously, backing up a little. "What is that?"  
  
Yami shook his head sadly.  
  
"Anubis," he sighed. "Quickly, let me take over and I will protect you."  
  
"Right!" Yugi agreed with a nod, exchanging places with his spirit-friend.  
  
The jackal-headed god stopped a few feet from Yugi.  
  
"What are you doing out so late, boy?" he snarled, in his fist hiding two silver coins, Yami noticed.  
  
"I am here to stop you and help my friends," Yami declared boldly.  
  
Anubis laughed a jackal's laugh.  
  
"Help your friends?" he laughed, pointing a long-nailed finger at Yami. "Well, if by that you mean the brown-haired boy with the spirit, I'm afraid I left him in a rather cloudy situation."  
  
Yami's eyebrows rose in astonishment.  
  
"What?! What did you do to him?" he demanded.  
  
Anubis snapped his fingers and Yugi's body suddenly flew at Anubis. (I say Yugi's body because it is his, not Yami's. Yami is just "borrowing" it. ^_~)  
  
"What the...?!" Yami cried as Anubis wrapped his sharp claws around his wrist.  
  
"I'm afraid his fate is the least of your concerns," Anubis said smoothly. "For your going to face an even more terrible one."  
  
Yami struggled against his grip, but it was useless, and all help from the puzzle seemed to be blocked.  
  
"No..." he muttered, as Anubis began to teleport them again. "Anubis has both coins...the power of Egypt is...his!"  
  
*********  
  
Seto and Priest Seto trudged through the sandy dessert. (Well, Seto did most of the trudging. Priest Seto was floating around above him)  
  
"What to do now..." Seto muttered to himself.  
  
"You could try teleporting after him again..." Priest Seto began.  
  
"No, I don't want to meet up with him again until I have a plan," Seto replied.  
  
Priest Seto shrugged.  
  
"Try teleporting back to the inn then," he suggested.  
  
Seto narrowed his eyes.  
  
"Can you think of anything that doesn't involve using those powers?" he asked grumpily.  
  
Priest Seto thought for a minute.  
  
"Not really, just you continuing to walk through the desert I guess," he replied.  
  
"Which won't exactly get us anywhere," Seto pointed out.  
  
Seto sighed and closed his eyes, knowing everything before him was only sand and more sand.  
  
There was a noise something like the teleporting noise Anubis and Seto made when moving from place to place, and the priest gasped.  
  
Seto's eyes snapped open and he gasped as well.  
  
"What is that?" Priest Seto asked, raising both eyebrows.  
  
Seto blinked.  
  
"I...don't know," he replied, amazed.  
  
In front of the two that had just appeared was a large temple, with green doors and gold handles, just up a few stairs, which, the two were at the foot of.  
  
"Should we enter?" Priest Seto asked, looking down at Seto.  
  
Seto nodded determinedly.  
  
"It's the only option right now, and there are very few people, or things that can create a temple out of nowhere in a few seconds," Seto said, walking up the stairs. "And one of them is Anubis."  
  
********  
  
End of Chapter 13  
  
Please Review!!!  
  
"Yes, please do! And let us know what you think! Next chapter up tomorrow or Wednesday." 


	14. Chapter 14: Duel! And Explaination

Chapter 14: Duel and Explanation  
  
Notes: "You wrote dessert?"  
  
Typo. I KNOW that trudging through a sandy dessert would just be plain wrong. ^_~  
  
"O_o` Ok" (I LOVE this little face. O_o` )  
  
As for Anubis's motives for kidnapping Yugi/Yami, well, he's in the middle of the desert at night, isn't he? And he was seen with Seto before, so he's part of the team "working" for/with Bastet. And unlike the other villains, Anubis wants to get rid of all of his enemies right away. ^_~  
  
"Whatever you say, Seto. Anyway, here's Chapter 14."  
  
**********  
  
Chapter 14: Duel and Explanation  
  
Seto approached the door and grasped the old handle. He tugged hard on it, and it opened easily, revealing a dark tunnel-like passageway, the walls made of the same type of stone blocks a pyramid was made of.  
  
He peered inside, but there was no light or flames anywhere to light the way.  
  
"Hmmm...it looks like somewhere Anubis would hide out," Seto observed.  
  
Priest Seto folded his arms.  
  
"Could be," he agreed, as Seto walked in a few steps.  
  
"We won't be able to see inside, though, so there's no point in going in," Seto said with a sigh, narrowing his eyes at the tunnel.  
  
Suddenly, as if by reading his thoughts, the little lamp holders inside the passageway lit up with flames, burning brightly and illuminating their path.  
  
Seto blinked in shock.  
  
"How..." he started, starting to walk forward and down the tunnel.  
  
Priest Seto grinned, floating after him.  
  
"It seems those powers of yours are doing a few more things in your favor than you think," he remarked, looking at the newly lit torches.  
  
Seto shrugged.  
  
"That's one good thing, I suppose, if this really is where Anubis has gone to," Seto replied.  
  
Priest Seto nodded in agreement.  
  
But as the two continued down the tunnel, the door they had left open for safety, slammed shut.  
  
********  
  
"What is wrong, Malik?" Ishizu asked nervously, Tea and her walking out of their shared-room and into the dark hallway.  
  
Tea looked at the three faces nervously.  
  
"What's going on?" she asked finally, nervous.  
  
"Niisama is gone!" Mokuba cried.  
  
"Wha...?!" Tea started, but Malik cut her off.  
  
"And so are Bakura, Taerro, and Yugi," he finished. "We think they're after Anubis, who, as Bastet told Mokuba, has the second coin now."  
  
Tea blinked in confusion.  
  
"Wait, wait, Bastet's ok?" she asked first of all, putting her hands up to stop the others from continuing the story.  
  
Mokuba nodded.  
  
"Yeah," he replied as he leaned against the wall, which was covered with strips of peeling wallpaper. "She said she was going after Anubis."  
  
Tea nodded, taking this in.  
  
"But why are the others missing? Did Anubis..." Tea began, but again, was cut off, this time by Malik, who was nervously picking at some of the peeling wallpaper.  
  
"No, Bakura found out that the powers that he inherited from Bastet merged with the powers of his Millennium Ring, enabling him to track gods and goddesses as well as Millennium Items," Malik explained to Tea.  
  
"So he and Taerro went off to try and stop Anubis themselves?!" she cried in disbelief.  
  
Malik shrugged.  
  
"It seems so," he replied, staring at the roughed-up carpet on the floor.  
  
Ishizu, who had been quiet all this time, now spoke up.  
  
"And Yugi and the Pharaoh have gone out to find them," she concluded.  
  
Mokuba nodded.  
  
Tea put her hand to her chin, frowning, as she pondered on this situation. Something still wasn't right...  
  
"But wait, that doesn't explain where Kaiba went," Tea spoke up, looking around at the others.  
  
"My niisama went to stop Taerro and Bakura too," Mokuba piped up, then sighed.  
  
He looked around at the others.  
  
"What can we do about it then? We don't have any powers to stop Anubis or anything," Mokuba said sadly.  
  
Ishizu smiled.  
  
"I have a few ideas," she said, causing everyone to look at her. "First of all, someone wake Joey and tell him to call his sister, and inform her of everyone's location. She must be worried if he didn't say where he was going."  
  
Lishito nodded.  
  
"I will do that, Miss Ishizu," he replied, walking down the hallway toward Tristan, Joey, and Yugi's shared-room.  
  
Tea's eyes lit up.  
  
"And I'll call Duke and Amber from my room," she said, walking toward her door, the old floorboards squeaking underneath her shoes as she walked.  
  
Mokuba and Malik looked up at Ishizu.  
  
"What do I do, neesan?" he asked, tossing a tiny scrap of wallpaper that had come loose from the wall aside.  
  
"You and I are going to find out whether the boys took any sort of beeper or phone with them, by which we can contact them," Ishizu said, and she and Malik walked down the hallway and back into Malik's shared-room.  
  
Mokuba sighed, slumping down in the hallway, and leaning against the wall sadly.  
  
"Why don't I get to help out with anything?" he wondered.  
  
********  
  
RING  
  
RING  
  
Duke and Amber both jumped up from the couch where they had been watching TV at the sound of the telephone ring.  
  
"I got it!" Amber cried, jumping off the couch.  
  
"No, I have it!" Duke replied playfully, running past her.  
  
Amber slid in front of him and picked up the phone hanging in the kitchen. She winked back at him.  
  
"I told you I had it," she replied, and Duke scowled for a minute.  
  
"Hello?" she asked casually, then her eyes lit up. "Tea! We've been SO worried about you guys! Where the heck have you been?!"  
  
She sat down on the counter as she listened to Tea speak, Duke sighing with relief that everyone was all right, well, he assumed they were at least.  
  
"Really? Well, I hope you guys will be careful," Amber said, playing with the cord of the phone with the tip of her shoe. "Thanks for calling us. Bye."  
  
She hung up.  
  
"What's up?" Duke asked, cocking his head.  
  
Amber's eyes were wide.  
  
"Uh...sit down, it sounds like a long story," Amber sighed.  
  
*********  
  
"Come on! Hurry up!" Yami Bakura snapped at Thoth, who was examining his stone tablets.  
  
"No need to rush to death," Thoth replied, summoning the Asura Priest out again.  
  
  
  
"I'll also add a card face down, just as you did," he replied, and a stone tablet moved forward, and slammed itself facedown on the floor with a crunch.  
  
Taerro was surprised it hadn't cracked to bits.  
  
"And I'll end my turn," he replied, the Asura Priest returning to his hand.  
  
"Ha! And I activate...Ouija Board!" Yami Bakura declared, A large board and the letter D appearing in front of him. "And since you've ended your turn, letter E will appear now!"  
  
A letter E popped up.  
  
Thoth merely blinked.  
  
"You really mean to beat me with D-E-A-T-H?" he asked as Yami Bakura drew his card, laughing to himself.  
  
"Yes, that's what I'm aiming at," Yami Bakura snapped in reply.  
  
Thoth shook his head.  
  
"I'm afraid that sort of trick won't work against me," he declared. "Now take your turn, mortal."  
  
"Watch who you call mortal," Yami Bakura retorted, staring at his new card.  
  
"Hmm...try Raigeki," Yami Bakura said smoothly, destroying the Rock Spirit. "And then I'll switch my Gross Ghost of Fled Dreams (1300/1800) into attack mode and play Possessed Dark Soul (1200/800) in attack mode as well. And they'll both directly attack your life points!"  
  
Thoth's life points fell to 1500 as the two fiend monsters attacked him directly.  
  
"And that'll be all for me," Yami Bakura said, smirking.  
  
********  
  
Seto walked down the dark tunnel, the flickering flames causing shadows to appear on the wall, and Priest Seto's spirit following after him.  
  
"So, where would Anubis be in this temple?" Seto asked, looking down one path at a fork in the tunnel.  
  
Priest Seto shrugged.  
  
"How would I know?" he replied.  
  
Seto frowned.  
  
"Well, I guess we'll have to guess then," he sighed, looking from one way to the other.  
  
Priest Seto shrugged again.  
  
"We could always split up," he suggested. "I go one way and you go the other."  
  
Seto sighed.  
  
"That wouldn't work," he retorted. "Even if you found anything, you couldn't do anything about it."  
  
"I guess not," Priest Seto sighed. "Just pick a route then."  
  
Seto's eyes moved from the left side, to the right side, then to the left again.  
  
"Which way is Anubis..." he muttered to himself, or so he though.  
  
No sooner had he spoken, did all the fiery lamps go out on the left path, and the right side lamps grew brighter.  
  
"Well, that is certainly handy," Priest Seto commented.  
  
"Yeah..." Seto replied, for once not annoyed by the priest's comments. "Let's go!"  
  
As they ran along, Priest Seto looked down at Seto.  
  
"Why are you chasing Anubis?" he asked finally.  
  
Seto raised an eyebrow.  
  
  
  
"Why not?" he retorted.  
  
"No reason, only, how does it really effect you?" Priest Seto asked, wondering what Seto's answer would be.  
  
Seto was silent for a few minutes as he continued down the twisting and turning path.  
  
"Maybe because I'm just trying to do something right," he replied softly, finally. "Those people need help, and since I'm the most able, why not help them."  
  
Priest Seto didn't reply.  
  
"Is there something wrong with that?" he snapped up at Priest Seto, pausing for a moment.  
  
"Oh no," Priest Seto replied, shaking his head. "Just curious, that's all."  
  
Seto studied him for a moment, then continued on his way, though he didn't quite believe him.  
  
********  
  
Yami moaned and opened his eyes. He had been teleporting somewhere with Anubis the last he had remembered, but now where was he?  
  
He looked around and saw a strange room, sort of like an embalming chamber. Vague memories flashed in his mind for a brief second, but he couldn't get a good hold on them before they vanished once more.  
  
"What is going on?" he muttered, realizing his arms were tied back on something, and his Millennium Puzzle was nowhere in sight. "Yugi!"  
  
"Yami," he replied, appearing as a vague spirit beside him.  
  
"Yugi, where is the puzzle?" Yami asked urgently, trying to pull his arms free of the chain that bound them to the wall.  
  
Yugi pointed to a small drawer-like container.  
  
"Over there. Anubis took it away when he realized you'd been knocked out," he explained.  
  
Yami nodded.  
  
"Where is he now?" he asked quietly.  
  
Yugi shook his head.  
  
"I don't know," Yugi admitted. "He just left as soon as he finished tying you up."  
  
Yami sighed.  
  
"At least I am stuck in the body and not you," he said with a small smile. "Maybe we can figure out how to get our puzzle's powers from here."  
  
Yugi nodded with a smile.  
  
"Yeah..." he muttered, looking at the ground.  
  
"What is it, aibou?" Yami asked, leaning forward a bit.  
  
Yugi's transparent form looked up at his friend.  
  
"I'm just worried about the others," he admitted. "What did he mean when he left Kaiba in a cloudy situation? What's going on with Bakura and Taerro?"  
  
Yami sighed.  
  
"I wish I knew, Yugi," he replied. "But for now, we need to concentrate on how to free ourselves."  
  
Yugi nodded.  
  
"Right," he agreed.  
  
*********  
  
Malik looked through Taerro's book-bag.  
  
"I can't find any cell-phone or anything like that," Malik informed his sister after dumping five pocket handbooks and a dozen pens and pencils on his bed.  
  
"How about a number to call?" Ishizu asked doubtfully.  
  
Malik flipped through a notebook.  
  
"Nope," he sighed.  
  
He tossed the notebook back on the bed with the others.  
  
"Neesan, this isn't working," he told her, resting his chin in his hands. "Isn't there anything else we could do?"  
  
Ishizu sighed.  
  
"There's no other way to contact them," she said sadly.  
  
"My niisama has a phone," Mokuba said, and Ishizu and Malik looked up from where they had been searching.  
  
"Do you know the number?" Malik asked eagerly, running over to him.  
  
Mokuba nodded.  
  
"Yes," he said.  
  
Ishizu's eyes lit up.  
  
"Wonderful," she said happily. "Why don't you give him a call and ask him where he is."  
  
Mokuba smiled. He'd been expecting Malik or Ishizu to want to call.  
  
"Ok!" he said, running over to the phone. "Please be all right," he thought, as he dialed the number.  
  
**********  
  
End of Chapter 14  
  
"Please review! Please review!"  
  
Yes, please do!  
  
"Hey, that rhymes. ^_~"  
  
Ok...anyway, next chapter up Wednesday (tomorrow) or Thursday. Come back soon and thanks for reading! 


	15. Chapter 15: Into the Heart of the Proble...

Chapter 15: Into the Heart of the Problem  
  
Notes: Yes, Yami, Yugi, Priest Seto, and Seto are in WAY over their heads. And Yami Bakura isn't much better, picking a fight with Thoth. :P  
  
"Yep. Can you believe SK's already starting on the sequel to this story, and she hasn't even finished this one yet?!"  
  
Alright, Red! Go ahead and make me look bad. Yeah, I might be putting up the start to the sequel soon, kinda like I did with the Darker Power and this story, but I don't think I'll post it up until I've gotten far enough in this one where there won't be any spoilers in the next. ^_~  
  
"Good. Anyway...on with the chapter!"  
  
********  
  
Chapter 15: Into the Heart of the Problem  
  
RING!  
  
A loud ringing sound sounded in the tunnel, and echoed off the walls several times, causing Seto to stop in his tracks.  
  
"What is that?!" Priest Seto cried, looking around for the source, alert.  
  
Seto sighed and pulled out his shiny, silver cell phone out of his pocket, revealing the source of the ringing.  
  
"It's just my phone," he explained to the priest, pressing the talk button to accept the call. "Though I can't imagine who would be calling me out here at a time like this. "Hello? Kaiba." He answered professionally.  
  
Priest Seto stared at him, eyes wide, bewildered.  
  
  
  
"You talk to the box?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.  
  
"Shush," Seto hissed, holding up a finger at the priest, indication silence, and turning away from him. "Mokuba!" he cried upon recognizing the voice on the other end, though it was barely audible over the massive amount of static coming through and breaking the connection.  
  
"Niisama!" Mokuba replied urgently. "Are you okay? ...are you?"  
  
"I'm fine," Seto replied hastily, fearing they would be cut off any second, moving around to see if he could get a better connection from another area.  
  
"Where...you?" Mokuba's voice asked, shunted out by the static once more.  
  
"In a temple in the desert," Seto replied, very clearly, hoping he'd get though to his brother. "I'm fine, don't worry. But where are you?"  
  
"Egy...ho..l," he replied. "Ho...el."  
  
The hotel! Seto realized with a sigh of relief. Good.  
  
"*Seto* Kaiba!" Priest Seto demanded, floating above him. "What in the world are you doing?!:  
  
"Quiet!" Seto snapped in reply, causing the priest to frown and cross his arms over his chest.  
  
"Now Mokuba," Seto instructed, returning to the phone call. "Stay at the hotel. I'll be back as soon as...I take care of a few things." He said, not wanting to worry his little brother by mentioning his was after a powerful Egyptian deity.  
  
"...careful!...iisama!" Mokuba called.  
  
"I will," Seto promised. "Good bye now, Mokuba."  
  
"Bye...iisama!" Mokuba replied.  
  
Seto clicked "end" on his phone and shoved it back into his coat pocket.  
  
"What was that thing?" Priest Seto asked, still looking shocked.  
  
"A phone. You talk to people through it," Seto said shortly.  
  
Priest Seto still didn't look convinced.  
  
"You could talk to Mokuba through it?" he asked suspiciously.  
  
"Yes," Seto replied, breaking into a run again. "Now come on!"  
  
*********  
  
Yami struggled against the chains holding him to the wall, but all his efforts were futile. He sighed, falling limp again.  
  
"I can't break free," he said sadly to Yugi, who was standing beside him as a spirit.  
  
Yugi nodded.  
  
"I know, but what else can we do? A spirit's not much good, and you're all tied up," Yugi replied.  
  
  
  
"I don't know Yugi," Yami sighed.  
  
********  
  
"My turn," Thoth replied, a new stone appearing. "I play two cards face down," Another slamming noise filling the hollow arena. "And re-summon Asura Priest and have him attack both your monsters on the field."  
  
The knives of the priest slashed through both the Possessed Dark Soul and The Gross Ghost of Fled Dreams, lowering Yami Bakura to a further 2600.  
  
  
  
"And then I activate Monster Revival, to bring back the Rock Spirit," he said, the monster Yami Bakura had destroyed during his last turn reappearing on the field. "This will end my turn."  
  
Asura Priest returned to his hand as the letter A appeared next to D and E on Yami Bakura's side of the field.  
  
"My turn! Draw!" he cried, pulling a card off the top of his stack.  
  
"Now I activate this one!" Thoth cried. "Eye of Truth! It is a trap that forces you to show me your hand."  
  
Yami Bakura hissed, showing his cards, Dark Necrofear, Frontier Wiseman, and Mystical Plasma Zone to Thoth.  
  
"But don't forget the effect!" Taerro called over to Yami Bakura. "You gain 1000 life points each turn if there is a magic card in your hand!"  
  
Yami Bakura grinned, pretending to ignore Taerro.  
  
"Not quite," Thoth replied, revealing the second face down card. "Bad Reaction to Simochi."  
  
Yami Bakura's smile dropped right off his face and his eyes widened.  
  
"No...not that card!" he moaned angrily as his life points dropped 1000 instead of gaining, due to the effect of the Bad Reaction card.  
  
"Two more turns and you will die," Thoth replied. "And because this is a dark game, as you mortals call it, the loser will be swallowed up in darkness!"  
  
Yami Bakura hissed angrily.  
  
"Come on, Bakura!" Taerro called. "Don't give up!"  
  
"Give up?!" Yami Bakura snapped, glaring over at him. "Who's giving up? There's still lots more to do with this guy..."  
  
*********  
  
Mokuba hung up the phone.  
  
"My brother's ok, but he said he was in an Egyptian Temple in the desert!" he said sadly to Malik and Ishizu.  
  
Ishizu's eyes widened.  
  
"A temple?" she asked, looking at the two.  
  
Mokuba nodded, and Malik's eyes suddenly lit up.  
  
"Wait here! I'll be back in twenty minutes!" he called, running over to the door and sprinting out of the room.  
  
Ishizu blinked.  
  
"Malik!" she cried after him. "Be careful!"  
  
"Don't worry, neesan!" he called back.  
  
Mokuba looked bewildered.  
  
"Where does he think he's going?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.  
  
Ishizu shook her head, also shocked.  
  
"I don't know," she replied.  
  
The door opened again and Joey, Tristan, (both of whom looked very sleepy) and Lishito walked in the room.  
  
"Hey, where'd Malik take off for?" Joey asked, rubbing his eyes.  
  
Mokuba shrugged.  
  
"I don't know but he said he'd be back soon," Mokuba replied.  
  
"Figures," Tristan muttered, sitting down on Lishito's bed. "I guess we'll just have to sit around and wait for him to get back, huh?"  
  
Ishizu nodded.  
  
"I suppose," she replied. "But Lishito, will you go after him and make sure he doesn't get hurt?"  
  
Lishito nodded, and opened the door.  
  
"I will," he replied, walking out of the room and letting the door shut with a snap.  
  
*********  
  
Bastet was stalking down the streets of the Egyptian village, her tail up and her eyes bright. She ducked into an ally and quickly used her teleporting powers to teleport back to the temple that had been in Tea's mind.  
  
  
  
The one the gang had visited earlier, and her home. A minute later, she found herself back there, but the funny thing was, someone was already up, despite the late hour.  
  
"What is this?" Yami Bakura cried, narrowing his eyes at the cat.  
  
"Bastet!" Taerro cried, running over to the cat.  
  
Suddenly, Yami Bakura's Millennium Ring sparked and a green blaze shot out of it, hitting Taerro and causing him to fall against the wall. Bastet hurried over to him.  
  
"How in the..." Yami Bakura stammered, wondering why his ring just suddenly chose to attack someone without him telling it to.  
  
"What is going on here, Bastet?" Thoth asked, surprised to see a familiar face.  
  
"What are you doing, Thoth?" she replied, snapping, as she inspected Taerro.   
  
He was dazed, but didn't appear to be hurt.  
  
"What's going on?" he asked as he shakily stood back up.  
  
Bastet ignored him for the moment.  
  
"Why are you dueling the ones who are helping us put Anubis back in line?" she demanded, walking forward, still a cat, but even so, Thoth cringed.  
  
"They are helping us?" he asked, nervously.  
  
"Yes, THEY are," Bastet hissed, shaking with fury. "Why don't you ever listen to anything?!"  
  
Thoth hung his head.  
  
"I am sorry, Bastet," he apologized, the dueling tablets disappearing.  
  
Yami Bakura caused his duel disc to disappear and tucked his deck safely back in Bakura's coat pocket.  
  
"Good duel," he snapped, retreating to the ring once more.  
  
The normal Bakura blinked and looked around.   
  
  
  
"Oh my, what happened here?" he asked timidly, looking up at Thoth. "My goodness! Thoth!"  
  
Thoth blinked in confusion.  
  
"What is wrong with that mortal?" Thoth asked suspiciously, staring at the now innocent Bakura, who was walking over to his friend, looking concerned.  
  
"Are you alright, Taerro?" he asked, holding out his hand to help him up.  
  
"Yeah, I'm fine," Taerro replied, relieved Yami Bakura had gone away.  
  
Bastet's tail flicked.  
  
"Time is running short," she snapped to the four. "Come on Thoth, we've got to find Anubis."  
  
Thoth nodded.  
  
"My pleasure, Bastet," he replied.  
  
Bastet turned to Bakura and Taerro.  
  
"It's not safe for you to stay here," she instructed, gesturing for them to come along. "You'll be coming with us."  
  
Bakura gulped.  
  
"Ok," he replied, as he and Taerro scrambled after the two.  
  
*******  
  
Seto squinted in the distance.  
  
"I see a light ahead!" he called, and a few moments later, he found himself in what looked like an embalming chamber.  
  
Everything looked pretty average, aside from the person chained to the wall, who Seto recognized as...  
  
"Yugi!" he cried, running over to him. "How did you get here?"  
  
"Anubis," Yami replied. "Can you get me off of this wall?" he asked struggling against the chains again.  
  
Seto didn't reply, but nodded, and looked around for some sort of tool to use to pick the lock of the chains.  
  
Priest Seto looked around the embalming chamber.  
  
"Anubis was the god of embalming," he said aloud. "This must be his hideaway."  
  
"That's true," Regular Yugi in spirit form said, and Priest Seto turned around, surprised.  
  
"You," he said, tilting his head. "Aren't you the boy the Pharaoh's spirit shares a body with?" he asked.  
  
Yugi nodded.  
  
"And you must be the spirit Kaiba awakened," Yugi replied.  
  
Now it was Priest Seto's turn to nod.  
  
"Yes, I am," he replied.  
  
"There," Seto sighed, panting, as the chains broke and Yami was freed.  
  
"Thank you," Yami said shortly, looking up at Yugi.  
  
"Well, well, well," Came an eerie voice, right from the doorway, causing all of the four (even the spirits) to look up in horror.  
  
"Anubis!" Everyone cried.  
  
********  
  
End of Chapter 15  
  
Review! Review!  
  
"Yep! And next chapter up tomorrow or Saturday." ^_~ 


	16. Chapter 16: Anubis's Return

Chapter 16: Anubis's Return  
  
Note: Yes, Seto saved Yami, but I don't think Yami really cares at this point. ^_~  
  
"Yeah, when you got a jackal-headed god on your tail, it's hard to think of your pride, though you'd be amazed at how many still do. :P"  
  
Oh, and just a quick notice that really won't take effect until next week, but on Monday...**gulp*...  
  
"School starts!!"  
  
**sniffs* Yeah, it does. But, I'm home-schooled, which means I don't have to travel anywhere, so I'll probably still be able to update every day, like I did earlier this year. But just wanted to mention it in case I didn't get an update in one day.  
  
"Don't worry, readers! She'll do whatever it takes to update every day, or at least every-other day."  
  
^_^ Yeah. Anway, here's the new chapter! PS: Another clue to the next story is in this chapter!  
  
******* *  
  
Chapter 16: Anubis's Return  
  
Anubis's jackal-claws clanked on the rock floor as he walked into the room, his eyes evil and menacing and his smile wide and dangerous looking.  
  
"Well, looks like you managed to escape my trap after all," Anubis commented to Seto. "How on Earth did you manage that?"  
  
Seto narrowed his eyes.  
  
Anubis's wandered over to Priest Seto, and fixed his gaze on him.  
  
"Ah, so your spirit helped, did he?" he asked, walked even closer.  
  
Yami looked quickly over at the drawer containing the puzzle, and then back over at Anubis. If only there were some way to tell Kaiba what his plan was and to have him distract Anubis...  
  
Wait! Yami thought, looking over at his partner. The mental link...  
  
Aibou! Yami called. Anubis can see you, so you and that priest distract Anubis while I get the puzzle out of the drawer.  
  
Yugi nodded, though he was still looking at Anubis, as he didn't want to give away any part of their plan.  
  
"I understand, Yami," Yugi replied through the link.  
  
*********  
  
Ishizu, despite herself, was beginning to does off by the window when a horrible honking sound from right below her caused her to awake again with a start and look out the window.  
  
"What in the heck was that?!" Joey cried, jumping up and hurrying over to the window as well, where Ishizu and Mokuba were already looking out.  
  
"It's Malik and Lishito!" Ishziu cried, Tristan trying to see over her head.  
  
"And they've got a little safari car!" Joey joked.  
  
Malik was waving up at them from the little car, whose backseat looked as though it could hardly hold two, and the front already full with Malik at the wheel and Lishito beside him.  
  
"Come down!" Malik mouthed up to Ishizu, who nodded.  
  
"Come on!" Mokuba called, and the group ran down the hallway and galloped down the stairs, causing the entire building to shake as they passed through the lobby and out onto the streets where Malik was waiting.  
  
"Get in guys!" Malik called, motioning for them to get in the backseat.  
  
  
  
Tristan blinked.  
  
"Will we all fit?!" he asked and Joey, Tea, and Ishizu climbed in.  
  
Mokuba climbed in after them and ended up sitting on Ishizu's lap.  
  
"What about me?" Tristan asked, attempting to get in as well  
  
Lishito looked at the situation in the back.  
  
"Try sitting on Joey's lap," he suggested, pointing at Joey.  
  
Joey jumped.  
  
"What?!" he cried. "No way!"  
  
"COME ON JOEY!" Everyone else yelled.  
  
********  
  
Bastet, Thoth, Bakura, and Taerro stopped for a moment.  
  
"What's wrong?" Bakura asked as Bastet and Thoth closed their eyes, meditating.  
  
"Shush, we're trying to find Anubis's location," Thoth retorted.  
  
"Oh," Taerro replied, sitting down. "This could take a while."  
  
Bakura sat down next to him.  
  
"Yep," he replied.  
  
*******  
  
Amber sighed, leaning against the window, a soft breeze ruffling her hair.  
  
"Ah, I hope the other guys are ok out there," she mumbled to Duke, who was reading the paper on the couch.  
  
"Yeah..." he agreed.  
  
She blew a piece of hair out of her face just in time to see a large white truck pull up with a logo of some sort on it that she couldn't make out.  
  
"Hey Duke!" she called over to her friend, who looked up again. "Is someone buying the space across the street?" she asked, pointing out the window.  
  
Duke nodded.  
  
"That's what I heard. They're starting a small business in the town or something," Duke replied.  
  
Amber sighed.  
  
"Oh," she said, looking curiously down at the group of three men walking out of the truck, one holding a strange, black, weapon of some sort.  
  
She raised and eyebrow, suspicious.  
  
******  
  
Yugi flew forward, directly in Anubis's path.  
  
"Hey, you bully!" he cried, waving his arms.  
  
Anubis snarled, and lashed out his claws at Yugi, who flew across the room.  
  
  
  
Seto raised an eyebrow. To him, Anubis was chasing nothing. Meanwhile, Yami sneaked over to the drawer.  
  
"Make sure he stays busy!" Yami hissed to Seto.  
  
Priest Seto had joined in the chase, figuring there must be a plan behind it all.  
  
"Over here!" Yugi called.  
  
"No, over here!" Priest Seto called from the other side of the room, laughing slightly at Anubis's rage.  
  
Anubis yowled, clenching his fists in rage.  
  
"Take...THIS!" he yelled, and a misty green substance flew out and hit both spirits, sending them backwards and pinning them to the wall.  
  
"No way!" Seto gasped, wondering how anything could pin down a spirit.  
  
Yugi and Priest Seto struggled against the substance that was holding both of them against the wall.  
  
"What is this stuff?" Yugi asked, trying to wiggle free, but the substance stuck to him like glue.  
  
"I...don't know," Priest Seto replied, looking up at what Anubis was doing now.  
  
Yami was trying to open the drawer that held his puzzle, while Seto was standing in front of him, ready to confront Anubis.  
  
Anubis laughed.  
  
"You wish to fight me? You barely escaped a mere taste of my powers the last time we met," Anubis taunted.  
  
Seto didn't move. He looked down at the ground. If only there were some lose piece of something that he could fight Anubis with lying around...  
  
Suddenly, he spotted an old metal bar. Quickly, he ducked under Anubis's clutches, and grabbed the bar. He held it up like a sword to protect himself with, hoping that his abilities might transfer to bar.  
  
Anubis chuckled, and glanced over at Yugi and Priest Seto, both of whom were still struggling to break free. A little spark hit the green substance binding them, and Yugi screamed.  
  
"Ah! What's going on?" he cried, wiggling harder. "It feels like it's getting tighter and tighter!"  
  
"I don't know!" Priest Seto yelled back.  
  
Seto frowned, and rushed forward, hoping to catch Anubis off-guard, bringing the bar down on the jackal-headed menace, concentrating with all his might, so that some magical quality would enhance the shot.  
  
Anubis screamed angrily, and lashed out at Seto, but the slash never hit him, as Seto disappeared.  
  
Anubis blinked.  
  
"What?" he asked, frowning.  
  
"Yami!" Yugi cried. "Help!"  
  
Yami struggled with the drawer, trying to pry it open.  
  
"Open...up!" Yami hissed, and the drawer finally popped open, the puzzle fell out on the floor.  
  
Yami hurriedly ran to retrieve it as Seto reappeared on the other side of the room, right beneath where Priest Seto and Yugi were stuck.  
  
"What are you doing?!" Priest Seto yelled down, attempting to break free.  
  
Seto blinked and looked around, Anubis running to attack him again.  
  
"Trying to fight Anubis!" he yelled back up.  
  
"Aa!...well do it faster!" Priest Seto called back as the mysterious substance grew tighter.  
  
********  
  
Thoth opened his eyes.  
  
"I got the location," he said to Bastet, who nodded.  
  
"Me too!" she said, beckoning Bakura and Taerro forward. "Come on, we're going!"  
  
Bakura and Taerro jumped to their feet and scrambled over to where Bastet and Thoth were preparing to leave. In a flash of blue light, the foursome disappeared.  
  
********  
  
Seto ducked under another one of Anubis's attacks and tossed the bar at him, where it collided roughly with his chest, but the jackal was far from giving up.  
  
Yami hastily hung the puzzle back around his neck, and stood up. Anubis was in sight, and nothing in the way.  
  
"Mind crush!" he yelled, thrusting his fist forward, and sending his spell flying toward Anubis, only to have the jackal-headed god duck at the last minute, and the spell nailed the wall directly between Priest Seto and Yugi.  
  
"Pharaoh!" Priest Seto yelled angrily. "We're not the enemies!"  
  
Yami frowned.  
  
"I know!" he called back, using the powers of the puzzle to free the two from the spirit-binding.  
  
"Whew," Priest Seto sighed, happy to be a free spirit again, as he floated away from the wall.  
  
"Thanks!" Yugi called over to Yami.  
  
Yami nodded, then turned back to the battle.  
  
Anubis was about to strike Seto when a blue flash hit the room and Bastet, Thoth, Bakura, and Taerro appeared right in between the two battling people.  
  
Bakura and Taerro's eyes went wide and the two ran out of the way of the battle as Bastet and Thoth backed up.  
  
"Anubis!" Thoth said angrily, glaring at his fellow god.  
  
"Thoth! Bastet!" Anubis growled, backing away.  
  
  
  
"Give up or we'll make you, Anubis," Bastet hissed, her yellow eyes flashing in anger.  
  
"We'll all make you," Yami said boldly, walking forward, up near Seto.  
  
Priest Seto and Yugi hovered over them.  
  
"Yeah," Yugi remarked.  
  
"Indeed," Taerro replied with a nod.  
  
The ring glowed and Yami Bakura took over Bakura's body.  
  
"I'll take down anyone who threatens me," Yami Bakura snapped, the evil grin, quite unlike Bakura's usual one, spreading over his face.  
  
Anubis grinned.  
  
"Well, I'm not backing down," he snapped. "I can beat you all!"  
  
"Then prepare to lose!" Yami Bakura announced, unfolding his arms and causing the Millennium Ring to glow brightly.  
  
"Get out of the way, Taerro," Yami cautioned, realizing Taerro wouldn't be very helpful and he might get hurt if involved in the fight. "This is going to be harsh."  
  
Taerro nodded and hurried away from the battle site (considering he was the only power-less person at the moment) as Yami, Yami Bakura, Thoth, Bastet, Seto, and Yami Bakura, all combined their powers to override Anubis.  
  
"Let's go!" Yami cried, and all used their powers to shoot out at Anubis, where the shots collided with his own power.  
  
There was a horrible flash of blue light that engulfed everyone as the sound of an explosion filled their ears.  
  
"What's going on?" Yugi cried as everything went blue before his eyes.  
  
"I don't know!" Yami cried back, the whole building shaking.  
  
There were several crashes, and a flash of blue light again, blinding everyone present.  
  
  
  
"Aa!" Seto cried, shielding his eyes from the light.  
  
The blue light faded just as suddenly as it had come, but the shaking did not. Anubis had disappeared, and so had Thoth. Bastet was scurrying to the door, jerking her head for the others to follow.  
  
Yugi had retreated to the puzzle, Yami Bakura to the ring, and Priest Seto was floating next to Seto.  
  
A large chunk of the stone ceiling fell down and crashed on the floor, shattering into pieces.  
  
"What's going on?!" Bakura cried.  
  
"The attacks have shook this temple up so much it's gonna fall any second now!" Bastet yelled anxiously from the door.  
  
Bakura gasped.  
  
"We've gotta get out of here!" Yami cried, as yet another huge piece of ceiling fell down to the ground.  
  
*********  
  
REVIEW! REVIEW!  
  
"And final chapter up tomorrow! ^_~" 


	17. Chapter 17: Goodbyes, Hellos, and Wrappi...

Chapter 17: Good-byes, Hellos, and Wrapping Things Up  
  
Notes: ^_^ Ok! Where to begin with the notes...  
  
"Well, first of all, Lady of the Thread was correct. The next story IS partially about new shop across the street."  
  
Eh...SDG and GDG...it's not QUITE a weapon's factory though. ^_~ But I have the first chapter of that story up as well as this last chapter of this one. The link's at the bottom of this chapter.  
  
Anyway, another story wrapped up. Yay! Even though I loved writing this one. Priest Seto is such a fun character...  
  
"What she means to say is expect to see him again sometime. ^_~"  
  
^-^ Yep. Oo, and yes, those temples aren't very well build. Of course, it's probably been standing for thousands of years, so we'll give it a break.  
  
"So long as it doesn't kill any of our heroes." -_-;;  
  
Oh, and one more thing. The scene with Tea and Yugi is sort of like one from the Virtual Reality series in the anime. ;)  
  
Anyway, on with the last chapter!  
  
*********  
  
"We've got to get out of here!" Bastet yelped back at the others.  
  
"Come on!" Yami called, and the 5 (plus two spirits) started down the hallway, decorations on the wall on pieces of the stone ceiling falling every second.  
  
"Can't you just teleport us out with your powers?" Taerro called up to Bastet, but she shook her head.  
  
"Can't," he yelled back. "My energy's been drained from the battle. It would be too dangerous to try, and if we stopped, we may never get out."  
  
Taerro turned pale.  
  
"Forget I asked then!" he called back to her, dodging a piece of falling stone.  
  
"How about you?" Priest Seto called down to Seto.  
  
  
  
"I don't think I'll try," he replied, as he'd been in the battle as well, and he didn't even have powers that compared to Bastet's.  
  
*********  
  
The little car, packed with the rest of the gang, traveled through the pleasant night in the desert.  
  
"Soo, what are we looking for again?" Tea asked, trying to get Joey's elbow off of her stomach.  
  
Malik shrugged.  
  
"Just trying to find the others I guess," he replied. "And at least this way, we can do it faster."  
  
  
  
"Though with half the comfort," Tristan muttered, resting his chin in his hand.  
  
Mokuba stared ahead, worried. His brother had said he had been in a temple somewhere in the desert, and not to be concerned, but how safe was a temple? What if his brother was in trouble right then?  
  
Mokuba sighed.  
  
********  
  
As the group continued running, sweating and panting from the heat and the running, a large chunk of the ceiling caved in just in front of Bastet. She jumped out of the way just in time, but the entire rest of the path was blocked.  
  
"Oh no!" Bakura gasped, looking at the path. "What do we do now?"  
  
Taerro gulped.  
  
"According to my calculations, there's not enough time to move all this before the whole temple caves in," he said sadly, wiping sweat off of his forehead.  
  
"This is bad," Bastet said, sighing.  
  
Seto nodded.  
  
"Is there nothing we can do?" Yami inquired, dodging another falling piece.  
  
Bastet bit her lip.  
  
"Well, I suppose, since it's the only option," she began, looking up at the two. "If you and Seto both combine your powers with mine, then perhaps it'll be enough to get us out of here."  
  
The building shook violently again, and there was a horrible tearing sound. Taerro turned back to the three.  
  
"If this is the plan, then you'd better start working on it fast," he advised.  
  
Bastet nodded.  
  
The Millennium Puzzle shown brightly as Bastet, Seto, and Yami combined their powers.  
  
"Now, concentrate hard on outside!" Bastet shouted.  
  
Seto nodded.  
  
Bakura and Taerro and Priest Seto got closer, not wanting to be left behind. In a moment, the blinding blue flash appeared once more, and they all disappeared with it.  
  
*********  
  
Malik's car continued to ride along, when suddenly, a group of people appeared right in front of it, causing Malik to slam quickly down on the breaks.  
  
"Whoa!" he cried as the car stopped just inches from the people.  
  
Seto opened his eye a crack and saw that they were back out in the desert, far away from the crumbling temple. Taerro and Bakura staggered away from Bastet, who was shaking her fur out tiredly.  
  
"I guess we could do it after all," she said softly.  
  
Yami nodded.  
  
"You're turn, aibou," he said to Yugi, switching places with him.  
  
Yugi smiled fondly down at the Millennium Puzzle.  
  
"Thanks Yami," he whispered.  
  
"Yugi!" Came a familiar cry from behind him, and he looked up to see Tea running at him.  
  
She wrapped her arms around him, pinning his own arms to his side, and squeezed him tightly.  
  
"Ow, Tea you're choking me!" Yugi gasped, though he was happy to see his friend.  
  
"I was so worried about you! Why didn't you tell me where you were going?!" she cried.  
  
Yugi grinned sheepishly.  
  
"I was in a hurry?" he tried.  
  
"Bad excuse," Tea replied, happily. "But I'm just glad you're ok."  
  
"Niisama!" Mokuba cried, jumping out of the car and running over to his brother, knocking him over as he embraced him tightly.  
  
"Aa, Mokuba!" Seto cried, hugging him back.  
  
"I was so worried about you," Mokuba sniffed, holding on to Seto tightly.  
  
Seto patted his younger brother's back gently.  
  
"It's all right, I'm fine," he replied.  
  
"That's good!" Mokuba said. "I love you, niisama."  
  
Seto smiled happily.  
  
"I love you too, Mokuba," he replied.  
  
A few feet away from this happy reunion, Priest Seto looked on, a small smile on his face as well.  
  
"You two have quite a relationship," he said at last, to Seto.  
  
Seto looked up at him, startled for a moment.  
  
"Oh, yes, we do," he replied.   
  
He paused for a moment. As much as he hated to admit he'd needed help from someone else, he couldn't help but feel a bit sorry for the priest.  
  
"But I wouldn't be here, if it weren't for you," he said solemnly.  
  
Priest Seto shrugged.  
  
"Forget about it," Priest Seto replied, in a modest way that only Seto did.  
  
Bastet opened her eyes and sighed.  
  
Ishizu, Malik, and Lishito had gotten out of the car by now, and were talking to Bakura and Taerro about what had happened. Joey and Tristan were crowding around Yugi and Tea to talk to them.  
  
"It seems Thoth and Anubis left just before the cave in, and the other gods have Anubis now under control," Bastet informed the group. "Osiris and Ra (the gods, not the duel monsters. ^_~) destroyed the coins, so that no other would be tempted by the powers of Egypt."  
  
"That is wonderful," Ishizu exclaimed.  
  
Malik nodded in agreement.  
  
"Yes, it is," he replied.  
  
Bastet wandered over to Seto, who looked down at her.  
  
"I will now remove the power from you," she said gently. "Although, you were quite a good warrior with them."  
  
Seto chuckled.  
  
"I'm more than ready to go back to being normal," he replied seriously.  
  
Bastet looked up at Priest Seto.  
  
"However, you know, the spirit of the priest will return to its resting place," Bastet informed him.  
  
Mokuba and Seto looked up, and for the first time, Mokuba saw the spirit Seto had been talking to all this time.  
  
"Wow! You look just like my niisama!" Mokuba exclaimed.  
  
Seto raised an eyebrow.  
  
"You can see him too?" he asked.  
  
Mokuba nodded happily as Bastet chuckled, her silver necklace, that had been glowing so brightly, died down once again.  
  
"You're the ancient niisama?" Mokuba asked curiously.  
  
Priest Seto didn't know how to reply. Seto sighed.  
  
"Yeah, I guess he is," Seto sighed.  
  
Bastet nudged Seto.  
  
"Are you ready?" she asked.  
  
Seto looked down. He couldn't explain it, but although he was more than ready to get rid of the powers, he wasn't ready to see the priest leave. For some reason, despite how much he hated to admit to things like magic and spirits, he believed in a small place in his heart that he was the reincarnate of the priest.  
  
"It's time I go back where I belong anyway," Priest Seto said. "It was nice to meet my reincarnate though."  
  
Seto didn't reply.  
  
"Be sure you take care of Mokuba," Priest Seto instructed, then added more softly, "And take care of yourself too."  
  
Seto smirked.  
  
"Sure," he replied, turning back to Bastet.  
  
She closed her eyes and a white light engulfed Seto. A moment later, the light died down. Mokuba and Seto turned back around, but Priest Seto was no longer there.  
  
"So he went back?" Mokuba asked Seto, cocking his head.  
  
"I guess so," Seto replied, as the two looked up at the sky.  
  
Bastet sighed, pacing the desert. Tea walked over to her.  
  
"What's wrong?" she asked, reaching out her hand to Bastet.  
  
Bastet looked up at Tea.  
  
  
  
"Miss, I wish to stay in Domino, for a fear more strange things will happen, and I must be there to help," she said. "It is my new assignment, Osiris says."  
  
Tea smiled.  
  
"If you need a place to stay, you can stay at my house if you want," Tea offered.  
  
Bastet looked up into the girl's kind eyes.  
  
"Thank you very much, Miss," she replied, climbing into Tea's amrs.  
  
"Just call me Tea," Tea replied, standing up again.  
  
Ishizu looked back toward the village.  
  
"Yugi," she said, walking forward. "Malik, Lishito and I must deal with a few things here in Egypt before we return to Domino once more. You all return without us."  
  
Yugi nodded.  
  
"We'll be waiting for you!" he waved as the three got back in the little car.  
  
Malik waved back.  
  
"See you see guys!" he called.  
  
"Later, Malik!" Joey called.  
  
Tea looked down at Bastet.  
  
"Can you get us home?" she asked gently.  
  
Bastet purred.  
  
"If Yugi does not mind assisting me," she replied.  
  
Yami laughed as Yugi let him out.  
  
"No problem," he replied.  
  
Everybody laughed as the first trace of Egyptian sunlight came up over the end of the horizon.  
  
*********  
  
End of Story!  
  
What did you all think?  
  
"Yes, it was sad Priest Seto had to go home, but remember what I said in the notes above...^_~"  
  
Ok now, don't go giving anything away! Here's the link to my next story in this little "series". It's called "Who You Gonna Call?" ^_^ Guess who?  
  
http://www.fanfiction.net/read.php?storyid=1479247  
  
Bye now! 


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